Dublin Writers' Festival

This year's Dublin Writers' Festival is absolutely packed with a fantastic mix of events. Way way to many to do justice here.
But I'll try.

First and foremost

Tuesday 20th May 7pm The Liquor Rooms
The Word including The Poetry Divas. Our first Dublin event in an age. Much too long.

The Liquor Rooms brings you Word: a new series of spoken word, live
literature, performance poetry, discussion, debate, chats, rants and more!

Free!

Other highlights:
Saturday 17th May 6pm Conference Hall Dublin Castle
Jo Baker & Joanne Trollope Reimagining Jane Austen
In recent years Jane Austen’s work has inspired a host of new novels, from PD James’ Death Comes to Pemberley to Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. But what are the pitfalls of
adapting classics for the modern age? Should you expect your readers to know the originals, and what happens when you change the point of view?

7pm Axis Ballymun Polarbear, Colm Keegan and Miss Kate
Early Hours offers an eclectic mix of performance, poetry and music. Polarbear is one of the most respected spoken-word artists and storytellers in the UK whose unique performances combine the language and rhythmic patterns of hip hop with the day-to-day musings of a man trying to figure things out. Dermot Bolger says of poet Colm Keegan that his work “delves into the richest and the darkest corners of the human condition, without … ever compromising the deep humanity at the core.” Throw in Miss Kate’s soulful blend of Blues, House and Urban influences and you’ve got a night to remember!

Sunday 18th May 4pm Arne Dahl Smock Alley
In recent years Swedish crime drama has swept all before it, and now Arne Dahl has become the latest writer to join the likes of Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell on bestseller lists across the globe. His Intercrime series, about an elite team of detectives investigating the dark underbelly of Swedish society, has sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide and been made into an award-winning TV series.

Monday 19th May & Wednesday 21st May 7pm Irish Writers Centre
Poetry Ireland’s Introductions Series
Since its establishment in 1989, Poetry Ireland’s Introductions Series has offered exciting opportunities for talented, emerging poets to showcase their work. Many well-known poets have
come through this series including me. This year, the Poetry Ireland Introductions Series will team up with the Irish Writers’ Centre and Dublin Writers Festival for two cabaret-style evenings in the ambient surroundings of the Irish Writers’ Centre to reveal nine new promising voices: Erin Fornoff, Angela T Carr, Larry Stapleton, Breda Wall Ryan, Kevin Conroy, Colm Scully, Rachel Coventry, Paul McMahon and Stiofán Ó hIfearnáin. This year’s programme will also include specially selected
musical accompaniment from new and emerging musicians, singers and songwriters.

Thursday 22nd May 6pm Smock Alley
Simon Armitage
Few poets can count a BAFTA, a CBE and an Ivor Novello among their awards, but Simon Armitage is one. In the 25 years since he published his first collection, Zoom!, he has established himself as the face of modern British poetry, earning both critical and popular acclaim. His astonishingly varied body of work includes ten collections of poetry, two novels, a bestselling memoir (All Points North),
translations from the classics and plays for radio, TV and stage.
Now Professor of Poetry at Sheffield University, he remains as prolific as ever. In 2011 he walked the 256-mile Pennine Way as a kind of modern troubadour, giving poetry readings in return for bed and board, a feat described in the bestseller Walking Home. In 2012, to celebrate the London Olympics, he conceived and organised Poetry Parnassus, the largest international gathering of poets in history. Now, following celebrated translations of The Odyssey and The Death of King Arthur, Armitage comes to Dublin Writers Festival to talk about The Last Days of Troy, his new dramatisation of Homer’s Iliad, currently on stage at the Royal Exchange in London, and to read from a selection of his work over the last 25 years.

Friday 23rd May 8pm Smock Alley
Everyday Sexism
Two years ago,” said Laura Bates in a recent interview, “I didn’t know what sexism meant.” But, when, after enduring a spate of unrelated incidents, she began to ask friends and colleagues about their own experiences, a shocking fact emerged: every woman she spoke to had encountered sexism not at some point in the past, but earlier that week. Soon afterwards Bates set up the Everyday Sexism Project, a website dedicated to documenting people’s personal experiences of sexism, and now, more than 50,000 posts later, the project has spread to 18 other countries and Bates has emerged as a leading figure in feminism’s ‘fourth wave’.
Chaired by Sinéad Gleeson, Everyday Sexism gathers a panel of leading journalists and campaigners to explore sexism in all its contemporary forms. What kinds of sexism are most prevalent today, and how can we resist them? Joining Bates to discuss these issues are Dearbhail McDonald, Legal Editor at the Irish Independent, and Jenny Dunne, who runs the Irish branch of Hollaback, an international website dedicated to ending street harassment.

Lots of info here