Immediate release: 16 February 2010
DUBLIN BOOK FESTIVAL: OVER 40 FREE EVENTS, 100 WRITERS
AND THREE DAYS OF FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
AND THREE DAYS OF FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
Over 100 of Ireland’s top authors, poets and journalists will gather at Dublin’s City Hall between Saturday, 6 March and Monday, 8 March, for the third Dublin Book Festival.
This year’s programme features over 40 free readings, debates, interviews and events for children, culminating on International Woman’s Day (Monday, 8 March), when the Festival will play host to the launch of a posthumous book from Nuala Ó Faolain.
Other highlights include public interviews with Nell McCafferty, Gordon Snell, Thomas Killroy, Sarah Web, Mary Kenny and Eilleen Battersby; a discussion on how to survive redundancy; a debate on "Irish rebel history" with Diarmaid Ferriter, Ruan O’Donnell and Niamh O’Sullivan; a talk on the legacy of feminism, as wells as readings and workshops for children with Siobhán Parkinson and Conor Kostick, amongst others.
The Dublin Book Festival’s Creative Director, Alan Hayes, said entry will again be free this year despite deep cuts in funding for publishers, writers and arts organisations: “The success of the Dublin Book Festival is rooted in the fact that it makes literature accessible to everyone. A cover charge would therefore be contrary to the inclusive ethos of the festival,” said Mr Hayes.
He added that over 11, 000 people visited the three-day festival in 2009, a record they hope to break this year, despite the challenging economic environment. “The Dublin Book Festival is the perfect tonic against the economic gloom; it offers book-lovers an opportunity to lose them selves for a few hours, while they mingle with their favourite writers, browse through the Festival Bookshop or just enjoy a cuppa and a good read in the Festival Café,” said Mr. Hayes.
The full programme will be announced on 24 February. Entry is free and places can be reserved for certain events. For further information see www.dublinbookfestival.com, find the Festival on Facebook or follow it on Twitter (www.twitter.com/DBF2010).
NOTE TO EDITORS:
Alan Hayes, the Festival’s Artistic Director and President of Publishing Ireland, is now available for interview. Please contact the Festival's Press Officer, Gert Ackermann on 086 1769287. Author photos are available from gert.ackermann@gmail.com.
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