From October 12th to 18th, the Red Line Book Festival brought curated lectures, performances, and other enriching literary experiences to South Dublin County for its 15th year. Organized by the Libraries and Arts division of the South Dublin County Council, the Festival supported over 40 events across seven days, featuring local writers, artists, and panelists in cultural spaces across South Dublin.
Curated by librarians, the Festival delivers “stories, ideas and connection” to Dubliners through free and headline events that feature bestselling writers and other leading voices in the arts. Highlighted sessions included conversations led by Welsh novelist Sarah Waters, Irish writer Louise O’Neill, and British poet and novelist Sophie Hannah, among others. Sessions were offered that explored crime writing, writing for young adults, spoken word theatre, and campus thrillers, among other engaging topics.
“Crime on Campus” hosted by author Imani Thompson (“Honey”) and Trinity alum and author Lisa Harding (“The Wildelings”) involved a discussion of Thompson and Harding’s recent novels, moderated by author Tanya Sweeney.
Both are set in elite universities: Thompson’s main character, Yrsa, is a Ph.D student of Sociology at Cambridge; Harding’s Jessica is a 48-year-old woman reflecting on her early days at Wilde (a fictionalized Trinity). Harding emphasized how “the damage [from childhood and adulthood] is propulsive in the characters’ lives,” and disclosed her connection to Jessica’s experiences with “vampiric” men in the theater. “I didn’t know who the hell I was — anything could be imprinted on me.”
Thompson spoke in depth about the interconnectedness of race, gender, power, and institutionalized violence, specifically within the “microcosm” that is the (elite) university. “You’re always aware of [the history of institutions like Cambridge] (…) there’s a colonial past in the brickwork.” Thompson “originally thought it was ripe for satire.” Also, she noted, “it was a really pretty place to kill people.”
Another session, “Debut Fiction,” invited writers Rebecca Murphy and Jennifer Bray to talk with bookstagrammer Chloe Cowman about their journeys to publishing their first novels and how they view mental health, feminism, and the LGBTQ+ community in literature.
Rebecca Murphy and Jen Bray both had very different pathways to the publishing industry. Bray said that “ultimately, I wanted my book to get into as many hands as possible.” Bray’s novel “The Lies Between Us” was published by Penguin House Publishing. She advises hopeful authors that, to be published, “it takes a little bit of delusion, and some determination.”
On the other hand, Murphy had a less traditional route and won a competition with the RTÉ Today Show, which let her publish her book with Ireland’s oldest independent publishing house, Mercier Press. She said that “mostly, rejection has been my experience with the publishing industry, but it’s not unique.”
When asked if women are particularly adept at writing horror and crime, Bray answered that “if (all) of the women who were in this room tonight (…) were all asked the question ‘Have you ever been attacked, followed, stalked, assaulted or abused?’, everybody will have not just one but multiple stories.” Bray’s most recent book is entitled “Fear”, a collection of short horror stories written by thirty-two Irish female authors. All proceeds from this book go to Women’s Aid, an Irish domestic violence charity. Bray said that “one of the worst fears that a woman has is the fear that exists within the home.”
Even if the publishing industry can be daunting for new authors, Rebecca Murphy and Jen Bray’s different journeys to publishing their first novels reflect the importance for female authors to tell their stories, and can inspire amateur writers to one day publish their own books.
Other sessions featured songwriters, broadcasters, political correspondents, poets, dancers, and actors, bringing a plethora of accomplished artists to the South Dublin community. As the festival drew to an end, the warmth of a shared creative spirit lingered in libraries and cultural spaces from Tallaght to Clondalkin, reminding the community of the importance of pausing to explore new perspectives and ignite their imaginations.
