Not that we're ever lost for words: but for the four days of the Dublin Writer's Festival, the city will become - according to the festival's programme director Pat Boran - "a place where words really matter". And with V.S. Naipaul, Amit Chaudhuri, Jostein Gaarder, Bernhard Schlink, John McGahern, Frank McCourt, Pauline McLynn, Roddy Doyle, Joseph O'Connor and Colm Toibin on the guest list, the sessions devoted to prose writing promise plenty of lively, wide-ranging debate.
Poetry will be equally well served with Fred D'Aguiar, Billy Collins, John Burnside and Michael Augustin joining Medbh McGuckian, Maire Mac an Tsaoi, Michael Longley, Theo Dorgan and Mary O'Malley for readings, discussions and more. The festival runs from June 14th to 17th; for information call 01 8783877, or see www.dublinwritersfestival.com.
Discerning dials should be tuned to BBC Radio 3 on Sunday evening at 6.30 p.m., when the Abbey's critically acclaimed production of Euripides's Medea will be broadcast as part of a Greek day on the station. Originally produced by the National Theatre last year, and directed by Deborah Warner, the play subsequently transferred to the Queen's Theatre in London's West End.
The radio version will be directed by Fiona Shaw, whose performances in the title role had critics sharpening their superlatives; and in three separate masterclasses on Sunday listeners can hear Shaw demonstrating how the characters of Medea, Elektra and Antigone can be brought to mesmerising life for modern audiences.
Another Irish cultural export this week is Opera Theatre Company's production of Handel's Rodelinda, which began a run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York last night. BAM has been at the forefront of innovative theatre, opera and dance productions under its dynamic executive director Harvey Lichtenstein. OTC made its US debut there with another Handel opera, Amadigi, in 1997. The current production features Helen Williams as Rodelinda and Jonathan Peter Kenny as Bertarido.
AND who says Ireland isn't open for business? Take a look at the arts calendar for the coming weeks. Today, for instance, a hand-painted exhibition on water conservation and river catchment awareness opens at the County Museum in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, while the fifth Galway Early Music Festival - four days of carnivals, consorts and concerts - kicks off with a performance by Christ Church Baroque and Cois Cladaigh at St Nicholas's Church. And that's just today . . . information on the festival from 091 56454 or on www.galwayearlymusic.com. The Clonmel exhibition is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free.
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