From the opening lecture by John Carey, author of the controversial bestseller, What Good Are the Arts? (Project, Wednesday, 8pm), to the closing event on Sunday, in which Jeanette Winterson will talk about growing up in a house that contained just six books (two of which were the Bible and Cruden's Complete Concordance to the Old and New Testaments), this year's Dublin Writers Festival programme promises some lively discussions.
Among the authors who will be giving readings are poet Brian Lynch, whose debut novel, The Winner of Sorrow, was highly praised last year; the Iranian-born Marsha Mehran, whose debut novel, Pomegranate Soup, is set in the west of Ireland; Dutch poet Rutger Kopland, who has spent much of his working life as a scientist in the field of biological psychiatry; and John Boyne, creator of the hugely successful book for younger readers, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
Four fantasy writers from various European countries will be discussing the genre, and there will be readings by poets including Seamus Heaney, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Rita Ann Higgins. Barry McGovern will perform Beckett and there will also be contributions by Kerry Hardie, Kate Thompson and the winner of this year's International Impac Dublin Literary Award, who will be announced today. In short, four days of "jaw, jaw" heaven.
• Further details from www.dublinwritersfestival.com
