The Dublin Book Festival kicks off on Thursday, November 2nd, with seven days of choice literary shenanigans for all tastes, featuring a host of renowned Irish authors.
Below, we've selected some highlights for eager bibliophiles (and Francis Brennan fans).
1. The festival begins with a bang with RTÉ Radio 1’s Arena live, featuring Dermot Bolger, Annabelle Comyn, Carlo Gébler, Fintan O’Toole and Arena's Seán Rocks (Thurs 2 November, 6.45pm – 8.00pm, Smock Alley Theatre)
2. Check out a lively discussion between two of Ireland’s most creative and celebrated writers: Roddy Doyle in conversation with Catherine Dunne (Sat 4 November, 6.00pm, Smock Alley Theatre)
3. Beloved hotelier and At Your Service host Francis Brennan (in conversation with Rick O’Shea) is here to the rescue, with sage advice on how to manage your household better (Sat 4 November, 3.30pm – 4.30pm, Smock Alley Theatre)
4. Parenting is no easy feat – join our panel of experts and learn some tried and tested strategies to help navigate the ups and downs of day-to-day child rearing. Our panel includes Aileen Cox Blundell, Stella O’Malley and Lucy Wolfe in conversation with Róisín Ingle (Sun 5 November, 1.30pm – 2.30pm, Smock Alley Theatre)
5. Little bookworms can take part for FREE each day in oodles of events including The Big Picture, where you can join some of Ireland’s best-known children’s book illustrators to create a different drawing each day, including Laureate na nOg PJ Lynch and Lauren O’Neill (Sun 5 November, 1.00pm – 3.00pm, Smock Alley Theatre, free entry) Or simply take refuge from the cold in our indoor Winter Garden and curl up on beanbags with a book and hot chocolate! (The Winter Garden is open Fri 3 – Sun 5 November, 12.00pm – 5.00pm, Smock Alley Theatre, free entry)
Elsewhere, you'll find everyone from Martina Devlin and Stefanie Preissner to Frank McGuinness and Éilís Ní Dhuibhne - find out more about the Dublin Book Festival programme here.
