Mountains to the Sea

There is so much going on at the Mountains to the Sea festival in Dun Laoghaire in September as well as the poetry strand, Poetry Now, that used to be a festival in its own right. Here are my choices of highlights outside of the poetry.

Timetable here

Howard Jacobson and Paul Murray

 4 Sep

at Pavilion Theatre

In the opening event of this year’s festival, we are delighted to present two of the finest comic authors writing today. How do you follow up the Man Bookerprize winning The Finkler Question?

Sunday Miscellany

5 Sep

at Pavilion Theatre

For over 40 years, tens of thousands of Irish people have woken up on Sunday morning to thoughtful, affecting and beautiful contributions from a variety of voices punctuated with a piece of apt music.

6 Sep

at Pavilion Theatre

A sneak preview of festival favourite Joseph O’Connor’s new collection of stories is sure to be a highlight of the festival. Where Have You Been? is released in October 2012.

Philippa Gregory

7 Sep

at Pavilion Theatre

Dr Philippa Gregory studied history at the University of Sussex and was awarded a PhD at the University of Edinburgh for her work on eighteenth century novels and their readership. Philippa is a recognised authority on women’s history.

Gerbrand Bakker and Joao Almino

8 Sep

at Pavilion Theatre

Gerbrand Bakker’s debut novel The Twin was described by The Irish Times as ‘One of those rare works of fiction that everyone should read’. The book was awarded the Dublin International IMPAC Prize in 2010

David Mitchell and Claire Kilroy

8 Sep

at Pavilion Theatre

Join two of contemporary literature’s most original and compelling voices writing in Ireland today.Mitchell’s best known work Cloud Atlas (2004) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize

John Banville and Esther Freud

8 Sep

at Pavilion Theatre

A new novel by John Banville is always a major publishing event and Ancient Light sees him writing at the height of his powers. Alexander Cleave is an actor whose best days are firmly behind him.

Transtromer Tribute

  9 Sep

at Pavilion Theatre

Join us for a panel discussion and celebratory tribute reading in absentia for the 2011 Nobel Laureate for Literature Tomas Tranströmer. Translated into more than fifty languages.

When Borgen Met Mad Men

9 Sep

at Pavilion Theatre

We are delighted to welcome two of the world’s most exciting writers for television to the festival. Writer for acclaimed television series Mad Men, Lisa Albert’s TV credits include: Murphy Brown, Major Dad, Living Single.

An Evening with Kevin Barry and Maeve Higgins

9 Sep

at Pavilion Theatre

Stand-up comedian and writer Maeve Higgins has performed at comedy festivals all around the world, and made her own RTÉ series, Fancy Vittles with her sister Lilly. Her first book, Regular Human Girl will be published in October 2012.

Eoin Colfer

 29 Sep

at Pavilion Theatre

Eoin Colfer launches the dlr Children’s Book Festival with an exclusive event to celebrate his very last Artemis Fowl adventure, Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian.There will be a bookshop on site and Eoin will sign copies of his new book.

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