Programme 2026

Join author and historian Pat Liddy, or one of his expert guides, for a walking tour of the neighbourhood around the Festival Hub, taking in many key landmarks associated with a wide range of our famous historic writers and the early development of writing in Ireland. Starting outside the gates of the National Gallery on […]

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Join us for a lively and engaging afternoon of book chat with some of Ireland’s most exciting contemporary authors. Sebastian Barry’s The Newer World (Faber & Faber) is an immersive and unforgettable novel of one man’s life in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Sebastian joins critic, journalist and broadcaster Alex Clark in conversation. […]

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Mary and Padraic Colum: Lives and the Dream (UCD Press) is an illuminating biography of two remarkable Irish writers: Padraic, a poet and playwright whose poems are still remembered today, and Mary, an influential writer and essayist whose work is now unjustly forgotten. Join us as author Margaret Kelleher discusses her book with Laureate of […]

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Irish PEN/ PEN na hÉireann is proud to present one of the world’s leading human rights lawyers, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC. She will discuss recent developments in censorship – from prosecutions of Hong Kong booksellers and authors, to restrictions on books with LGBTQ+ themes in US public libraries, to Israeli police raids of an East Jerusalem […]

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As short stories continue to captivate, join us as we delve into two striking collections by award-winning writers. Niamh Mac Cabe’s Four Night Seas (Lilliput Press) features characters navigating emotional or existential thresholds – grieving, seeking meaning or reconciling with the past  – in this collection that blurs the line between the internal and external […]

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You’ve just started enjoying Irish, or you’re a fairly fluent speaker who hasn’t opened a book in years, or you’re an occasional reader as Gaeilge wondering what’s new and best. Beidh comhairle againn duit ag an gClinic Leabhar do Dhaoine Fásta, do gach leibhéal cumais agus taithí! Roinnfidh an scríbhneoir cáiliúil Anna Heussaff a cuid […]

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For a writer, failure can mean the waste of years’ worth of work. Three contributors to The Dublin Review – Rory Gleeson, Kevin Power and Cathy Sweeney – join Aingeala Flannery to talk about the writer’s life in a culture that fetishises failure – but only if it has been followed by success.   Rory […]

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The Fighting Words Story Slam with MC Dave Rudden at the Dublin Book Festival is an open mic event for young people aged 13–18 to share original stories, poems, and songs! This fun and exciting platform celebrates youth creativity and gives performers a chance to shine on stage. Registration is required for performers and audience spots are […]

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