DBF After Dark Events at DBF26

Dublin Book Festival is a festival that weaves our love of books into the cultural landscape of our city, and no less as the evening kicks in. Our DBF After Dark series invites audiences to experience the best of Dublin’s cultural nightlife in a whole new way. As darkness descends around the city and the lights come on, our evening events, taking place in vibrant and welcoming venues all around the city, bring you the best in lively conversations with some of Ireland’s most exciting contemporary writers, dynamic poetry and spoken word performances, music, and more. 

Read on for a spotlight on just some of the great events happening after dark this year, and visit our website to see the full DBF After Dark series.

Louise Kennedy © Alexis Kirschbaum

Kicking off our flagship festival week, join us for our Opening Night event where authors Louise Kennedy, Jan Carson, Sue Rainsford and Sheila Armstrong will be in conversation with podcast host of The Women’s Podcast Book Club, from The Irish Times, Róisín Ingle, celebrating the extraordinary rise, diversity and influence of Irish women’s writing over the past two decades.

Djamel White © Conor Horgan

Our DBF After Dark Festival Club at Bartley’s Lounge in The Grafton Hotel will be a hive of cultural events and entertainment over four evenings of the festival. Join us for a lively conversation around song writing with Pippa Molony and Ahmed, With Love or discover captivating debut novel events with Ruth McKee and Juliano Zaffino, as well as Jessamine O’Connor and Djamel White. Celebrating Ireland’s independent publishers is at the heart of what we do, so join us for an uplifting evening with readings and conversation from some of today’s most exciting small and new presses, then stick around for the karaoke after – books down and mics on! Join award-winning comedian, actor and writer Mario Rosenstock as he explores his brand new memoir, or if you feel like being at the centre of all the fun, why not join our Spoken Word or Dublin Quiz nights?  

Colm O’Regan © Christine Burns

We’ll also be in venues across the city. At our Festival Hub in RIAM, you can catch everything from a lively discussion with acclaimed author Kevin Barry and Irish Times Books Editor Martin Doyle, to a warm, witty and wonderfully Irish conversation with Colm O’Regan and Páraic Kerrigan inspired by their new books, or hear from some of the contributors to Ireland’s brand new literary journal dedicated to comics, PANDEMONIUM.

Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan © Ishmael Claxton

Poetry lovers will be able to enjoy several poetry events in the brand new Poetry Ireland building at Parnell Square, including an exciting line-up of the freshest voices writing in Irish and English at the Poetry Ireland Introductions / Céadlínte evenings.

We’ll also be reaching far and wide across the city, from two great events in MoLI – Museum of Literature Ireland right down to events taking place in the Teeling Distillery in the Liberties, including an Irish-language poetry and traditional music night with IMRAM at the Móroíche Filíochta agus Ceoil. 

And these are just a selection of our great events taking place after the sun goes down. Visit our website to see the full DBF After Dark series happening from 6pm onwards.

We’re delighted to be supported by Dublin City Council’s Night-Time Economy Advisor once again this year, as we contribute to Dublin’s rich offerings of night-time cultural experiences. Find out more at https://dublin.ie/live/dublin-nights