Words on the Street - European Literature Night 2012‏

Another day celebrated in many countries. There's quite a lot of them, aren't there?!

Words on the Street - European Literature Night will happen in cities across Europe on the same night - Wednesday 16th May.

In Dublin well known Irish people will read in English contemporary writing from twelve European countries in twelve venues, many of which are unusual and not normally easily accessible to the public.

Joe Duffy, Mary Kennedy, Sharon Ní Bheoláin, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Donal McIntyre, Brian Kennedy, Tom Hickey, Owen Roe, Breandán de Gallaí and authors Bernard McLaverty & Joe Dunthorne will be joined by others in places such as The Chapter House in Christ Church (normally closed to the public), the Undercroft in Dublin Castle, Smock Alley Theatre, Gallery Number One, Tailor's Hall, Werburgh St Church (burial place of Lord Edward Fitzgerald & usually closed), Council Chamber in City Hall, Contemporary Music Centre, Gutter Bookshop, St. Audeon's Church (only remaining medieval church in Dublin), Lord Edward pub and Exhibition Space in City Hall.

A map showing the location of the venues with information about the readers and readings will enable the public to move from venue to venue - all of which are in the Temple Bar West/ Christ Church area. The map will be available from libraries in Dublin, Failte Ireland tourist offices, National Library and the venues.

The twelve participating countries will each be represented by a short (15 minutes) translated piece of a novel, poem or short story which will be read every 30 minutes so people can wander from venue to venue taking in readings from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Poland, Romania, Spain & Wales. The first reading in each venue starts at 6.30pm and is repeated on the hour and half hour with the final reading at 9pm.

First launched in Prague, it has now become a major international cultural event promoting European cultural heritage by presenting contemporary writers, well-known and newcomers to the broader European public.

This is the first time this has happened in Dublin but we hope it could become an annual event.

A Dublin UNESCO City of Literature project in partnership with Alliance Francaise, British Council, Goethe Institute, Instituto Cervantes, Italian Institute of Culture, embassies of Austria, Belgium, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and the Romanian Cultural Institute