Dublin Book Festival runs from November 14th to 17th and promises to bring a bit of joy to a stressful month for students. The festival is sure to encourage many of us to take a break from the library and go to some brilliant events, where writers like Wendy Erskine, Kevin Barry and Jan Carson will be discussing all things book related.
Throughout the festival, visual art and photographs by Hina Khan and Vukašin Nedeljković will be on display in Smock Alley Theatre to correspond with the launch of Correspondences: An Anthology to Call for an End to Direct Provision. It has been almost 20 years since direct provision began in Ireland, and the exhibition and anthology provide insight into the harsh reality of life for those who have lived and continue to live in direct provision.
Louise Kennedy, Leeann Land and Eoin O’Brien will take centre stage in Smock Alley’s Winter Garden on November 15th, reading extracts from writers of the past who have been recovered in recent years. Louise Kennedy will read the work of Norah Hoult, who published numerous novels during her lifetime, but went out of print before gaining due attention from people like Louise Kennedy. Many writers who have faded into the past are women whose talents were underestimated because of their gender. There is consolation in knowing that we can now show the deserved veneration that these women never received while they were alive.
One of the most powerful books published by an Irish writer this year is Caelinn Hogan’s Republic of Shame, which tells the stories of women who have lived in Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes, either as mothers or babies. Hogan will discuss her book with RTÉ Radio 1’s Katie Hannon on November 15th in the General Post Office’s Witness History Centre. In an interview with The University Times, Hogan explained the basis for her book: “Some survivors are growing older and that living history won’t be around forever, so it is important to document the experience of these people while we can.”
Belfast writer Wendy Erskine had a seriously impressive start to her writing career when the Stinging Fly published her collection of short stories, Sweet Home last year. Since then, Erskine has been shortlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and long-listed for the Gordon Burn Prize. She will join acclaimed playwright Thomas Kilroy in the Lord Edward Pub on November 15th where both will discuss what it is like to be a writer in contemporary Ireland. The Lord Edward have pints of guinness for €5, which might convince you to attend this event, even if you’re not a fan of incredible Irish literature.
