International Literature Festival Dublin comes of age this year and today announced details of the 2018 programme, which celebrates 21 years of gathering some of the finest writers in the world together in Dublin.
The nine-day celebration of the written word takes in over 100 events in 36 Dublin city centre locations, from May 19th to 27th, with familiar faces and new voices, workshops, literary trails, a spotlight on New Zealand writers and a bigger Tall Tales programme for families and young readers.
Martin Colthorpe, the festival’s programme director, said: “International perspectives are at the heart of what this festival is about and it’s a great thrill to bring major international names like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Neil Gaiman, Amy Bloom, Michael Rosen and Michael Ondaatje to Dublin and to hear what inspires them as writers and creators.
“As well as the big names, this is a festival rooted in the city of Dublin and we want our audiences to see the city afresh, take risks and discover new talent. In our Boundless strand you can hear hip hop in the GPO, take a cycle tour of Dublin’s ghost signs or party in St Patrick’s Park.”
Other festival highlights include:
An evening celebrating William Trevor on publication of his final book Last Stories, with fellow writers including John Banville, Yiyun Li and Roy Foster
Amy Bloom in conversation with Roddy Doyle
My Name is Leon author Kit de Waal discusing her Women’s Prize for Fiction longlisted The Trick to Time for the Irish Times Book Club podcast
Wellcome Prize winner Suzanne O’Sullivan, one of the UK’s leading neurologists, on her new book, Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology
David Mitchell and Deborah Levy, with their cherished albums, discuss music and the relationship between lyrics and writing
Orla Guerin, Caelinn Hogan and Samanth Subramanian discuss reporting in the age of always-on news and instant opinion
Liz Nugent discusses her career and new novel Skin Deep
Una Mullally with Elaine Feeney and Tara Flynn discuss The Question of the Eighth
Maggie O’Farrell discusses her shocking memoir I Am, I Am, I Am and will also deliver a masterclass in story writing
Barcelona comes to Dublin with Spanish writer Javier Cercas with French novelist Mathias Énard
Writers confront the Occupation, Eimear McBride and Yehuda Shaul discuss the anthology edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman with Israeli NGO Breaking The Silence, which tells the stories of the people on the ground in the contested territories
A discussion on the migrant experience as the driving force behind their fiction with Melatu Uche Okorie and Nikesh Shukla, as Melatu launches her debut novel which she began to write while living in the Irish direct provision system.
Jennifer Johnston in conversation with Arminta Wallace
Kudos author Rachel Cusk
Jamie O’Neill will discuss his groundbreaking work At Swim with Two Boys
Rachel Kushner on her new novel which explores life gone off the rails, The Mars Room
At ‘Words On The Street’ take a journey across the cultural landscape in an evening of celebrity readings of translated works by some of the finest European authors. Readers include Anne Doyle, Mary Kennedy, Lisa Lambe, Geraldine Plunkett, Johnny Ward and Elizabeth Day
Ruby Wax on her new book How to Be Human: The Manual
The festival features an expanded children and family programme, Tall Tales, which includes a Bold Girls event with Sinéad Moriarity, Kate Pankhurst, Senator Ivana Bacik, Róisín Ingle and Annie Madden on May 26th; Poetry Alive! with Michael Rosen and Oliver Jeffers chatting about his work and his new book Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth.
