For 20 years, One Dublin One Book has aimed to encourage everyone in the capital to read a chosen book, connected with the capital city, during the month of April.
Director of Dublin UNESCO City of Literature Anne- Marie Kelly celebrates the popular initiative, celebrated in a new anthology, Dublin, Written in our Hearts.
Every April for the last 20 years, one book got its moment in the sun with the popular One Dublin One Book initiative from Dublin City Council.
This reading campaign encourages everyone to read the same book during the month leading to shared discussions and activities across the city and beyond. On bus shelters, lamp posts and digital panels across the major routes of Dublin, the annual choice has festooned the city. The promotion has retained its popularity and is now a firm favourite in the national calendar of festivals.
So how did it all begin?
The idea originated in the 1990s from Seattle librarian, Nancy Pearl who thought it would be exciting for a whole city of readers to share the joy of reading together the same book at the same time. Since then many cities have followed suit with a city-wide reading campaign including London and Berlin. Then Dublin had its very first One Dublin One Book initiative in 2006 with At Swim-Two-Birds, the comic fantasy by Flann O'Brien.
In the early years of the reading promotion, the tried and trusted classics of Irish literature were selected including Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Joyce’s Dubliners and James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist.
When the Decade of Commemorations programme kicked in, James Plunkett’s Strumpet City, Lia Mills’ Fallen and Nuala O’Connor’s Nora were chosen for readers to reflect on significant Irish historical chapters.
Rere Ukponu, book editor Declan Meade, Stephen James, Caitriona Lally,
Karl Whitney and Peter Sirrin.
Readers also enjoyed novels from contemporary award-winning writers including Joseph O’Connor, Christine Dwyer-Hickey and Roddy Doyle when their books Ghostlight, Tatty and The Barrytown Trilogy respectively were the One Dublin One Book choices.
In more recent years, debut novelists, Rónán Hession’s Leonard and Hungry Paul and Louise Nealon’s campus novel Snowflake have brought attention to a new wave of writers.
Breaking with the tradition of focussing on one author the initiative has also featured a number of anthologies including an anthology of poetry, If ever you go commissioned by Dublin City Council in 2014. This popular collection published by Dedulus Press captured many poets’ reflections on Dublin and remains a well-thumbed resource. In 2018 another anthology, The Long Gaze Back edited by Sinéad Gleeson was selected for the campaign, celebrating the brilliance of women’s writing over the last 2 centuries.
For the 20th anniversary of One Dublin One Book, Stinging Fly press was commissioned to produce an anthology, Dublin, Written in our Hearts capturing Dublin in the first quarter of this century through contributions from 22 poets and writers.
Dublin, Written in our Hearts is published by Stinging Fly. Find out more about this year's One Dublin One Book programme of events here.
