The One City, One Book festival is once more upon us. Each and every April, as the daffodils shine and the showers pour down, the festival has one, simple aim: to encourage as many people as possible to read a book connected with our beloved capital city.
If you’ve passed any Dublin bookshop recently, you will have noticed this year’s choice proudly displayed in every window: The Long Gaze Back: An Anthology of Irish Women Writers. Edited by journalist, broadcaster and cultural critic Sinéad Gleeson and hailed as “a feast of female voices” by the Irish Times, the anthology gathers together 30 short stories written entirely by Irish women. Spanning four centuries and featuring some of Ireland’s most gifted writers, The Long Gaze Back is both immensely important and irresistibly delightful.
Published in 2016 and chosen now in early 2018, the anthology is very much of its time. It comes amid a tidal-wave surge in feminist debate, with movements such as #MeToo and Time’s Up only at the tip of the iceberg. Unsurprisingly, festival organisers appear wholly aware of the climate in which they find themselves. The official website is at pains to stress a gender-neutral approach, stating firstly that all suggested titles are evaluated “regardless of whether written by men or women”, and again that “No title is discriminated against based on the gender of the author”.
Women, and a celebration of their work, are clearly at the heart of the festival this year. The programme is simply bursting at the seams with events. The festival kicked off on April 5th and there is something for even the fussiest of culture-heads. Each week, you can go and listen to the authors contained within the collection speak about their work, with most of these conversations chaired by Gleeson herself. One speaker that may particularly tempt you is Lian Bell of the #WakingTheFeminists movement, who will sit on a panel discussion later in the month.
Yet it is not only the written word being celebrated, but artistry of every kind. Events are set to include live readings, art gallery tours, theatre performances and more. If you’re looking to escape the monotony of the study season, you really don’t need to think too hard. One event in particular promises to be a festival highlight. Towards the end of the month, Inni-K, Lisa Loughrey, Sinéad White and Fehdah will all perform at The Cobalt Café, responding to and giving their thoughts on Irish female musicians from the last two centuries. Really, there is nothing like some tunes to brighten your mood, impending exams notwithstanding.
This is a festival not to be overlooked. Whether you’re a book-lover, a gender egalitarian or you just really love Dublin, you will be blown away by this year’s event line-up. It’s a year with a message, and a passionate one: Let’s celebrate our women artists and let’s do it now.
