Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
AS WELL AS being the season of marvellous music festivals, summer is also the time for culture fans to revel in the wonders of literature.
Taking place between May 31 until June 4, Listowel Writers’ Week, Ireland’s oldest literary festival, returns for its 53rd year of informative and enlightening events which are designed to give attendees fresh perspectives on the life and careers of their favourite writers.
Situated in the picturesque heritage market town of Listowel, Co Kerry, the inaugural festival was held in 1971. On the Listowel Writers’ Week website, it states that part of its aim was to create a space for a “celebration of literature, cultural experiences and inspiration”. In doing so, the festival has always provided a platform for both emerging talent and established writers to share their experiences in the hope of inspiring voices across their audiences.
Simone Langemann, acting festival manager of Listowel Writers’ Week reiterated this sentiment to The Journal: “For such a small place as Listowel it has produced incredible literary talent such as John B. Keane, Bryan MacMahon, Brendan Kennelly, to name just a few. The founders of Writers’ Week put great importance to supporting young talent and aspiring writers and many careers started off during Writers’ Week. The atmosphere during the festival is just magic and has to be experienced and cannot be described in words.”
Integral to the magical atmosphere is the quality and quantity of guest speakers that make their way to The Kingdom for the June Bank Holiday. As ever, this year’s programme features a tremendous curation of vital voices across a number of arts disciplines from poets to historians as well as revered names in the worlds of music and acting.
At the 53rd edition of Listowel Writers’ Week, attendees can hear legendary songwriter Paul Brady discuss his autobiography Crazy Dreams with Paul Muldoon and witness Academy Award nominee Stephen Rea receive the John B Keane Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening night of the festival. Elsewhere, this is an unmissable opportunity to become acquainted with the work of exciting names in literature and poetry, in particular.
Listowel Writers’ Week is curated to be as informative and interactive as possible with a host of walking tours and workshops featured in the programme. Of note, Lunch Poems, in association with Poetry Ireland, will showcase the work of rising names such as Jessica McKinney, Simon Costello and Dean Browne, amongst others, throughout the weekend.
If you’re looking to awaken your own poetic sensibilities, then there are plenty of workshops taking place to facilitate this. Poetry as Commemoration: An Intergenerational Workshop, hosted by Luke Morgan, focuses on themes grounded in legacy, inspired by events that occurred during the War of Independence and the Civil War. Elsewhere, you can attend a songwriting workshop with critically acclaimed musician Mark McCambridge, who has been releasing music under his Arborist moniker for almost a decade.
Langemann highlights some of the events that she’s particularly looking forward to which are taking place at this year’s Listowel Writers’ Week. “We have such a fantastic programme again this year that it’s hard to choose just a few events! Here are some of my highlights so far, The John B Keane Lifetime Achievement Award, Richard Ford, Liz Nugent, Yan Ge and Lucy Caldwell, The Bad Bridget event as well as Richard Moran and Paul Muldoon’s events. Oh, and Paul Galvin talking about his book, Threads. I also love history inspired novels and I’m looking forward to Amanda Geard and Sheena Wilkinson’s Intriguing Histories event.”
Listowel Writers’ Week festival has been in existence now for over half a century, and as Langemann has pointed out, those years have been filled with countless rich and rewarding experiences courtesy of the remarkable guests that have been welcomed to the town. Fundamental to the festival is listening to the artists who have cultivated their voice in Ireland, perpetuating the country’s exceptional literary legacy.
When asked what she feels is a leading contributing factor to inspiring so many distinct Irish voices in literature, Langemann says, “The love of speech; the long standing tradition of storytelling, the playing with language and words all mixed together created this very unique voice in Irish literature.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I doubt if FFG has any more room under the carpet
@Shakka1244: There’s a swing somewhere no-one uses anymore, could hide it there!!!!
@Will Thompson: It’s a magic swing, makes people disappear!
@Will Thompson: Yeah and still get well paid at the same time.
The lack of transparency shows a lack of respect for the public which is disgraceful!
@Nuala Mc Namara: the electorate aren’t worthy of respect. It doesn’t matter what FFG do, they get voted back in again. The public doesn’t hold them to account so why treat them with respect?
The government parties know that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want and get voted back in irregardless so I doubt they care too much.
what happened to the, nothing to fear ,nothing to hide mantra that we’ve been hearing from fg about this card…. publish the report if there’s nothing to hide
The Government need to seriously examine why they are held hostage to bad or unworkable ideas like this one, the National Broadband Plan, the Children’s hospital, the strategy in the MauriceMcCabe saga, the Housing policies that are making things worse, etc, etc, etc. They defend these bad ideas to the death and line up ministers to defend and deny until the bitter end. Admit mistakes were made, learn from them and move on. It’s Ireland anyway. It’s not like admitting mistakes will cost anyone their job.
@Sean: all governments use thinktanks as their special advisers, usually made up the topdogs in finance, media and so forth….it is they that run countries.
@Sean: this government’s broadband, hospital, hse and homeless strategy is going exactly to their plan
@Sean: Everything the FG government does, in collusion with it’s coalition partners FF, is done according to policy decisions driven by FFG’s political dogma. FG are hostage to nothing but their political dogma.
FG have always despised the poor, the low paid, the less well off, the unemployed. They don’t govern on their behalf, they rule over ordinary people for the benefit of the rich, foreign private investor corporations, corporate interests. The IMF oversees any decisions the FG minority government makes. The IMF, the world’s privateers and asset strippers, dictate policy as agreed with Noonan to sustain the rotten and corrupt banking system in the country.
FG have no mandate to force such policies on the country. When you go into a GE after being part of a coalition government and you lose 26 seats in that GE you have lost any mandate to govern. This FG minority government is sustained by way of secret backroom deals made with a party that is bound by the constitution to oppose the government and hold it to account for the decisions it makes. That makes a total mockery of the democratic process in the country. FG and their partners in government,FF, don’t make mistakes. Everything is deliberate and according to plan.
This is ridiculous at this stage, whos behind this? Whos benefiting? I guarantee there is absolutely no benefits to the taxpayer but someone is benefiting. Fg are so belligerent about this and it stinks of a scandal and/or tribunal down the road
@Thomas Maher: it’s definitely gonna cost the state in payouts.
@Thomas Maher: If you say nothing I’ll give you half of this big brown envelope I just happened to find!
@Thomas Maher: The benefit for government is the potential for control over the lives of the citizens of Ireland.
@Thomas Maher: A great FF benefactor is the beneficiary!
Why would they . They are spinna gael
@Leo Lalor: Another minister incapable of the position they were appointed to.
It will be interesting to see how the Facilitraitor Party reacts?
Time to remove FG labour FF from Irish politics, 10 years this has gone on and now the countrys data protection agency is being attacked by them for telling the truth, they have behaved illegally.
@@mdmak33: What are they hiding??? Who got the contracts?
@TamuMassif2019: the same people that make the passport, the very thing they are making it compulsory for, how odd!
@Commentator: So you think that they be charging a massive fee for these cards next??? lol.
@TamuMassif2019: @ 60 mill I reckon they’ve already done that!
Can I ask a question. Maybe I’m totally off the wall but what are peoples problems with having a card with all their information on it ? Wouldn’t it make it easier for dealing with all depts eventually and rather than having to fill out forms and bring lots of stuff with you all you would need is the card ? I know there is a fear of the information being accessed improperly but surely if this was safeguarded everything would be ok. Move with the times and all that
@Declan Moran: you’re new here, aren’t you?
@Declan Moran: most people don’t have a problem with such a card. What most people have a problem with was the PSC’s compulsory nature; the fact that passports or driving licences – both legal and valid forms of ID – were to no longer be accepted; the way it was handled in that it was de facto a national ID card but without any legal basis; the fact that the government refused to debate it in the Dáil; and the fact that the government has already proven that they cannot safeguard the privacy of the information held on these cards. As for “rather than having to fill out forms and bring lots of stuff with you” – well, you still had to do that.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: thanks Brian. I hadn’t the energy.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: if you’re not adopted, an immigrant in dp, etc etc
@Mike Rugby Nuts: I feel like I’m missing the entire second half of your sentence. What point are you making about if “you’re not adopted, an immigrant in dp [sic]?”
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: dp is Direct Provision, I was too weary of FFG to finish that sentence.
@Mike Rugby Nuts: I figured that much out the first time around. Your sentence still makes no sense to me. What about adoption or immigration are you trying to say, and how do they relate to the PSC?
F them all out.
Everyone should just sue the department and the government.
@The Irish Bull: Good man and make all our lawyers billionaires.
Remove FFG..
It’s all very clear since the report went into the hands of the government that they intend to continue on with this illegal instrument. It didn’t matter what the DPC had to say in the report, it never mattered that legal experts told the government time and time again that there is no legal basis for this card, that people’s right to protection on their private and personal data and it’s abuse by this FG minority government was being ignored.
FG want this Biometric National ID Card by the back door as the means to control the lives of its citizens. Just as in India, the Aadhaar Card, the nation ID card there is being used illegally by the Indian government. The card has put the people of that country under the most draconian and intrusive surveillance. It will be put to the same use in Ireland if this government isn’t stopped.
It is as clear as day that this PSC is no benign instrument in the hands of this minority government and they will fight tooth and nail to keep it and to hell with the legalities.
Keep the Peasants in the dark
@Geoff Bateman: Under foot in the mud?
Sure why would they do the right thing, these mutants of FFG know full well that the deluded supporters they have who are stuck in the me fein, parish pump minset, will still vote them in no matter what
So much for our democracy! Openness, transparency my foot!!
So how much can I sue them for?
@Harry Trafford: The legal eagles reckon the payout for anyone that sues over the PSC is in the region of 15,000 euro.
Another mess covered up
There’s a great book called IBM and the Holocaust by Edwin Black. It describes what happens when the government knows too much about the citizens.
This govt believe they are answerable to nobody. Who Fianna FAIL. Sure they say nothing. Toothless. And the rest. Hmmmm
have your say