Author and columnist with The Irish Times, John Waters, is among some of the country's best-known literary names on their way to Athlone for next month's second annual Literary Festival.
Columnist and novelist Declan Lynch, novelist and publisher Dermot Bolger, broadcaster and writer Katie Hannon and poet Rita Ann Higgins, are among other figures who will feature in the festival.
The festival takes place on Friday and Saturday, October 1st and 2nd, and coincides with the launch of a new biography of Athlone's best known author, John Broderick, by Madeline Kingston, and the reprinting of two of his best-known works.
John Waters will be guest speaker at the gala dinner on Saturday evening. Athlone native Declan Lynch will officially open the festival.