Dublin Writers Festival | June 2 – 7, 2009 | www.dublinwritersfestival.com
Notes on a Scandal author Zoë Heller, BBC presenter and New Yorker critic Simon Schama, Orange Prize winner Anne Michaels, Booker nominee, IMPAC winner and author of just–released Brooklyn Colm Tóibín and the popular TV journalist Melvyn Bragg are among the 25 writers appearing in Dublin in this year’s Dublin Writers Festival.
Now in its 11th year, the annual literary festival welcomes to Dublin acclaimed authors from around the world to read from their most recent works and take part in curated conversations about their books, writing and – this year’s theme – the ‘power of the word’.
Programme Director Liam Browne has invited a diverse range of authors, poets, fiction writers, factual writers, memoirists and social commentators to the six-day festival; their works covering a wide range of subjects including Victorian crime detection, immigration, murder, homecoming, losing children, ghost stories, America and coming of age.
Highlights of the 2009 Festival are:
A special live appearance by Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney who will be rounding off his 70th birthday celebrations – and the 80th birthday of publishing house Faber and Faber - by reading a personal selection of his poetry in the National Concert Hall.
Exclusive Irish visit by writer and broadcaster Simon Schama CBE who will be talking about his newest book based on his BBC series, The American Future, A History.
First-time visits to the Festival by Tipping the Velvet author Sarah Waters, and Fugitive Pieces author and Orange Prize winner, Canadian Anne Michaels.
Readings from first-time Irish novelists: music journalist Peter Murphy, former Investment banker Aifric Campbell and war correspondent Ed O’Loughlin.
A focus on crime writing and the murder mystery novel with readings from Suspicions of Mr Whicher author Kate Summerscale and one of the world’s best selling crime writers Val McDermid.
A traditional Irish music performance to the poetry of Dermot Bolger - The Frost is All Over; poetry with Paula Meehan and Leanne O’Sullivan and an exploration of the term ‘women’s writing’ with readings and discussion from writers Claire Kilroy, Julia O’Faolain and Christine Dwyer Hickey.
Also in the six-day festival will be readings from: Irish literary phenomenon Brendan Kennelly; humorist and Guardian critic Joe Queenan; genre-defying Geoff Dyer; My Left Foot co-writer Shane Connaughton; former lawyer MJ Hyland; Snow Geese author and relative of Ralph and Joseph, William Fiennes; Booker prize nominee and IMPAC award winner Colm Tóibín; and scriptwriter Steve Toltz.
Some interesting facts about this year’s Festival:
- 25 Writers are appearing in the Dublin Writers Festival 2009
- A total of 233 books have been published by the writers with some 8,000 pages making up the books featured in this year’s Festival
- 1 author is a Nobel prize winner for Literature; 8 are Booker prize nominees
- 9 of the writers are or were journalists
- 6 have had books made into films; 1 of which was nominated for 4 Oscars
- Writers come from as far afield as Canada, Australia and America as well as closer to home in England and Ireland
Full List of writers appearing at the Festival (in alphabetical order):
Melvyn Bragg, Aifric Campbell, Shane Connaughton, Christine Dwyer Hickey, Geoff Dyer, William Fiennes, Seamus Heaney, Zoë Heller, MJ Hyland, Brendan Kennelly, Claire Kilroy, Julia O’Faolain, Ed O’Loughlin, Leanne O’Sullivan, Val McDermid, Anne Michaels, Paula Meehan, Peter Murphy, Joe Queenan, Simon Schama, Kate Summerscale, Colm Tóibín, Steve Toltz, Sarah Waters
Full Programme Listings
Seamus Heaney
June 2 | 8pm | National Concert Hall | €20/15
Ed O’Loughlin, Aifric Campbell, Peter Murphy
June 3 | 6pm | Project Arts Centre | €12/10
Simon Schama
June 3 | Liberty Hall | 8.15pm | €15/12.50
Anne Michaels
June 4 | Project Arts Centre | 6pm | €12/10
Melvyn Bragg
June 4 | Project Arts Centre | 8pm | €12/10
Zoë Heller, Geoff Dyer
June 5 | Project Arts Centre | 6pm | €12/10
Colm Tóibín
June 5 | Project Arts Centre | 8pm | €12/10
Julia O’Faolain, Christine Dwyer Hickey, Claire Kilroy
June 6 | Project Arts Centre | 2pm | €10/8
William Fiennes
June 6 | Project Arts Centre | 4pm | €12/10
M. J. Hyland, Steve Toltz
June 6 | Project Arts Centre | 6pm | €12/10
Paula Meehan, Leanne O’Sullivan
June 6 | Project Arts Centre | 6pm | €12/10
The Frost is All Over
June 6 | Project Arts Centre | 9pm | €15/12.50
Shane Connaughton, Joe Queenan
June 7 | Abbey Theatre | 1pm | €10/8
Brendan Kennelly
June 7 | Abbey Theatre | 3pm | €10/8
Kate Summerscale, Val McDermid
June 7 | Abbey Theatre | 5pm | €12/10
Sarah Waters
June 7 | Abbey Theatre | 7.30pm | €14/12
How to book tickets
NATIONAL CONCERT HALL
Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2 | T: 01 417 0000 | www.nch.ie
PROJECT ARTS CENTRE (and booking for Liberty Hall)
39 East Essex Street, Dublin 2 | T: 01 881 9613/4 | www.projectartscentre.ie
ABBEY THEATRE
26 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1 | T: 01 878 7222 | www.abbeytheatre.ie
For more information on the Festival www.dublinwritersfestival.com