DBF After Dark

Set in an uncomfortably credible future, Lichtenberg (Temple Dark Books) by Tom O’Connell is a gripping and thought-provoking dystopian fiction, exploring the dangers of nationalist ideology, state propaganda, revisionist history, and the othering of the marginalised outsider; issues that continue to plague our contemporary society. With a protagonist who dares to question the status quo, […]

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The Dublin Review, Ireland’s quarterly magazine of essays, memoir, reportage and fiction, is celebrating its 100th issue. Join us for a special live broadcast of RTÉ Arena on Radio 1 where Rick O’Shea will be in conversation with the editor of The Dublin Review Brendan Barrington, alongside contributors Sara Baume, Patrick Freyne, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, […]

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Exploring themes from hope and love to resilience and ambition, join us for an evening around four captivating debut novels from some of the freshest voices in Irish fiction. Gethan Dick’s Water in the Desert, Fire in the Night (Tramp Press) is a unique take on what we do when the world ends. Aisling Rawle’s […]

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Join us for the launch of This Is Not a Cookbook (Skein Press), a unique blend of memoir with food writing alongside evocative lithographic artwork. The vignettes in the book chronicle Roxana Manouchehri’s childhood growing up in Tehran in the 80s following the Iranian Revolution, the profound influence of the women who surrounded her, and […]

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Join us for an eye-opening discussion tracing the treatment of women in Ireland across three centuries, uncovering stories of struggle and resilience from the 1700s to today. Leanne Calvert’s Pious and Promiscuous (Royal Irish Academy) offers an intimate glimpse of life in 18th century Presbyterian Ulster. Susan Marie Martin’s Dublin’s women street traders, 1882 – […]

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This event is now booked out with a waiting list in place. Embark on a vivid journey with writer, actor and broadcaster Michael Palin as he shares captivating tales from his career and travels, including his latest adventure in Michael Palin in Venezuela (Hutchinson Heinemann). With his trademark curiosity and wit, hear stories of the […]

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Join us as we celebrate the finest spoken word poetry in the world. Slamovision, hosted by the UNESCO Cities of Literature, is a unique spoken word version of Eurovision, and an exciting opportunity to showcase local talent on an international stage. This year’s final is in Dublin, the 4th UNESCO City of Literature, bringing you […]

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Moving Hearts legend Keith Donald has been at the epicentre of the Irish music scene for decades. His memoir Music and Mayhem (The Lilliput Press) chronicles his life, from his early days in Belfast to playing music across the globe, as well as his journey from addiction to redemption. Join us for a performance of […]

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The pens are down and the volume’s up as Holy Show alumni and DBF guests swap words for beats. In collaboration with ddr residents FARO-P and Mittelschmerz, expect eclectic sets from poet and playwright Lianne O’Hara, writers Rob Doyle, Nicole Flattery and Róisín Kiberd, and DJ Iconik (aka poet and cartoonist Eoin Rogers). Please note […]

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In this event we explore the power of poetry to care for the vulnerable, to extol the living and honour the memory of all that is lost. What is a poet’s relationship to the experience of pain, their responsibility to bear witness, the commitment to do no harm? Poets Róisín Leggett Bohan, Jennifer Horgan and […]

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Join us as we delve into three powerful debut short-story collections. The stories in Claire-Lise Kieffer’s Tenterhooks (Banshee Press) are humorous, off-kilter, savage and surreal; illuminating an Ireland both strange and familiar. Shane Tivenan’s To Avenge a Dead Glacier (The Lilliput Press) contains stories that explore the lives of rural Irish outsiders, with style, verve, […]

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Susanna Galbraith’s debut collection, morsels (Macha Press) is a formally ambitious multi-sequence debut collection. The title series ‘morsels’ explores the ways language and its absences shape our relationships with one another, with natural environments, and with human and animal bodies. Across three interconnected sequences, Galbraith makes sensitive yet tough-minded forays into unstable, ever-evolving territories: love, […]

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