The 38th Cúirt International Festival of Literature is only six weeks away, and we are looking forward to welcoming world-renowned and celebrated Irish and international authors, alongside the very best in emerging talent, to Galway this year.
We hope that the programme this year offers audiences new perspectives, and an opportunity to share a love of literature with the city and with each other. After all, reading is both a solitary and shared act that can bring us closer and widen our appreciation of the world. This idea is reflected in our poster, illustrated by artist Charlot Kristensen, which is an invitation to settle into a book and share the act of reading, and all that it encompasses – ideas, inspiration, conversation – with those around us.
Galway is a vibrant and exciting city, and we can’t wait to fill the streets, theatres, bookshops, bars and cafes with events, authors, audiences, and conversations. With this in mind, we’ll have the play Too Much of Nothing by Mark O’Halloran and David Wilmot running every day in Tigh Neachtain’s, directed by Andrew Flynn and starring Jarlath Tivnan and Peter Shine, so settle in with a pint, or a coffee and enjoy the show!
Acclaimed novelist, playwright and poet Sebastian Barry will be in conversation with Claire-Louise Bennett in the Town Hall Theatre on Saturday evening (April 22nd) to discuss his latest novel, Old God’s Time. Donal Ryan and Wendy Erskine will be in conversation about their latest books, and Caroline O’Donoghue will be hosting a live episode of her podcast Sentimental Garbage with special guest Emer McLysaght, co-author of the Aisling series of novels. And Max Porter will be joining us on Friday evening with a special performance centred around his new novel Shy, followed by a Q&A.
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Anne Enright and Louise Kennedy (whose novel Trespasses won the An Post Novel of the Year 2022) will be joined by Glenn Patterson on Sunday evening to discuss their work, in what is sure to be a thrilling finale to the festival.
Carmen Maria Machado, internationally-acclaimed short story writer, essayist, critic and author of Her Body and Other Parties and In the Dream House, will be appearing on Thursday evening in conversation with Sinéad Gleeson. Machado’s work has earned her numerous accolades for its genre-bending style and witty, nightmarish approach to ordinary situations, with themes of contemporary horrors and queer and feminist issues. Machado will also be in conversation with Sophie White and Camilla Grudova on Wednesday evening, and will be hosting a masterclass about the craft of writing fiction.
Vona Groarke and leading historians Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick will be in discussion of their latest books which delve into the stories of Irish women who sought new lives in North America in the 19th century. In the best-selling Bad Bridget: Crime, Mayhem and the Lives of Irish Emigrant Women, Farrell and McCormick discover how these women became involved in crimes of passion and opportunity, and calculated, daring acts of transgression. In Groarke’s Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O’Hara, the poet reflects on the life of her great-grandmother in a ground-breaking way of seeing history anew.
Nicole Flattery and Susannah Dickey will talk about their latest novels; and we’ll be launching Elaine Feeney’s How to Build a Boat, the story of grief-stricken 13-year-old Jamie’s mission to connect with the memory of his mother and build a Perpetual Motion Machine. We’ll also hear from poet Eva Bourke, who will be reading alongside Tara Bergin and Padraig Regan.
This year’s festival also features events centred around the environment and climate change. Saturday, April 22nd is Earth Day, and we’ll begin the day with a sea swim and readings at Blackrock, followed by a panel about wild swimming – something close to many Galway residents’ hearts – with authors Chantal Thomas, Emily Hasler and artist Vanessa Earl. We’ll be welcoming Manchán Magan, Eoghan Daltun and Emma Must to talk about environment, writing and activism, in what is sure to be a rejuvenating and essential panel. Magan will also be discussing ways in which memoir and nature intertwine with Amanda Thomson and Seán Hewitt, whose memoir, All Down Darkness Wide, was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature.
Cúirt has always celebrated and supported emerging writers, and this year is no different: the winner and two shortlistees of the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022, Maddie Mortimer, Luke Cassidy and Tice Cin, will talk to Derek Owusu about their debut novels, and how their publishing careers have developed; Alice Kinsella joins Jessica Traynor to shine light on new motherhood; William Keohane will perform his 52 poem sequence about gender transition; and Michael Magee will bring his highly anticipated debut novel Close to Home to the festival.
Festival favourite the New Writing Showcase will feature selected writers from the Over the Edge Literary Series and Skylight 47: Fiona Hanley, John Noonan, Riley Johnston and Helen Flynn, as well as the winners of the Cúirt New Writing Prize: Jess Raymon for fiction, Lauren O’Donovan for poetry, and Liam Mac Peaircín for our new category of Irish language. We will also be launching the long-running Poems for Patience, which have been selected by Paul Maddern.
We’ll be kicking everything off on Tuesday, April 18th with a poetry reading from Colette Bryce, Sarah Clancy and Toby Buckley, followed by an opening party in our festival club, Galway City Distillery with readings from special guests Elaine Feeney and Paul Maddern.
We can’t wait to welcome everyone to the festival for what will promise to be an unforgettable week of readings, events and conversation.
Manuela Moser is director of Cúirt. cuirt.ie
