Authors participating this year include John Banville, Sara Baume, Colin Barrett, Lucy Foley, Sinéad Gleeson and many more.
The festival has been running since 2006 and celebrates both established authors and newcomers, offers literary walking tours, workshops, open mics and free family and schools’ events. Its festival hub is set in The Printworks at Dublin Castle. Alongside the festival’s wide variety of events here there is a bookshop, café and bean bags set up for lounging and reading.
Other locations include The National Botanic Gardens, National Library of Ireland, Irish Writers Centre, The Gutter Bookshop, Dublin city libraries and more.
Events include Sinéad Gleeson in conversation with Paula Shields at dllr Lexicon Studio on Saturday, November 9. Gleeson will chat about her latest novel Hagstone, which features themes of the natural world and the darker side of human nature. This the writer and arts commentator’s debut novel.
The Irish Writers Centre Foundation Showcase will also take place at Dublin Liberties Distillery on Friday, November 8. Here new writers will take to the stage to perform their new writing they have produced as part of the Foundation Programme. The showcase will feature awardees Aoife Horan, Declan Jones, Clíona Malin, Catriona Murphy, Ifunanya Ogochukwu and Khaled Sultan. In advance of the event these upcoming writers received mentorship from award winning writer and poet Colm Keegan as well as other supports from The Irish Writers Centre. The event is free.
Dublin City Libraries Readers’ Day runs on Saturday at 2.30pm at The Printworks, Dublin Caste. Kevin Power will be in discussion with Colin Barrett about his novel Wild Houses and Estelle Birdy about her debut novel Ravelling. Neil Hegarty will be in conversation with Catherine Dunne about her novel A Good Enough Mother. Declan Burke will be in conversation with Tana French about her thriller The Hunter and Lucy Foley about her murder mystery The Midnight Feast.
Family events include the Creative Station and Children’s Book Swap at The Printworks, Dublin Castle from 11am to 3.30pm on Saturday and Sunday of the festival. Families are invited to get involved in drawing, writing and arts and crafts at the festival’s hub. Families can also bring their old children’s books to swap them for a book on the Dublin Book Festival book swap stand. Also, families can visit the Plant Your Own Tent at 11am on Saturday and Sunday at the festival’s hub. Here bulbs and saplings will be available to be planted and participants can take them away with them after the workshop where they can learn how to take care of the plant. These events are free.
Also, renowned traditional storyteller Niall de Búrca will treat visitors to The Printworks, Dublin Castle to a captivating story time. Mr de Búrca has performed internationally and featured in theatre, radio and festivals in Ireland. Book is required.
