Penultimate Day of Cúirt 2022

1. Drop In: Kids’ Storytime – Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop – 10:00

Hang on to your hats, Storytime has been Cúirt-ified! Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop have partnered with Cúirt for two bumper Storytime reading sessions featuring the best in Irish authors and illustrators. Putting a special spotlight on the Cúirt theme of Intersections, these special Storytimes will feature Irish picture books highlighting inclusivity and intersectionality. Storytime is open to all ages.

2. False Gods and Felling Empires: Anna Della Subin and Françoise Vergès – An Taibhdhearc – 12:00

Who makes gods of men, and how are they brought back down to earth? The question is answered directly by Anna Della Subin’s study Accidental Gods: On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine, and broadly by the political scientist and scholar Françoise Vergès’ manifesto, A Decolonial Feminism. Both are vital contributions to ongoing conversations about the fallout of empire, and the power in the hands of indigenous anti-racist and anti-colonial movements throughout history. This is a vital opportunity to hear from two stellar intellects with decades of experience in their fields. Make your Saturday lunchtime unforgettable.

3. Cúirt Zine Fair – The Cornstore – 12:00 – 16:30

The Cúirt Zine Fair features a stellar line-up of zinesters, distros, independent presses and artists. Showcasing zines, small presses, prints and comics from across the country, the fair is a chance to get to know the rich and diverse indie press and comics scene here in Ireland. For more information on who will have a stall at this year’s fair, keep an eye on our socials!

4. Love and War: Belfast Fictions with Louise Kennedy and Lucy Caldwell – Town Hall Theatre – 13:00

Come spend an afternoon with two of Belfast’s finest storytellers, with their unique perspectives on love and survival. Lucy Caldwell’s These Days focuses on the four nights of the Blitz in April 1941, as two sisters, one engaged to be married, the other sustaining a secret relationship with another woman, fight to stay true to themselves. Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses, set at the height of the Troubles, features Cushla, a young teacher and part-time bartender, who embarks on an affair with Michael, a married barrister who introduces her to a world of privilege and luxury. But when the father of one of her students is murdered, political tensions escalate, threatening to destroy everything Cushla is building…

5. The Boom gone Bust: Dismantling Capitalism – An Taibhdhearc – 14:00

A constant drive towards profit has dire consequences for us all, but how do we even consider changing things if this system is baked into every part of our lives? Join researcher Amelia Horgan, Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland spokesperson Bulelani Mfaco, and disabled activist Ellen Clifford for a frank, incisive look into how systems of capital have shaped and distorted our world, and how we might imagine an alternative.

6. Cinema Book Club: Matilda – Pálás Cinema – 14:00

Danny DeVito puts his unique darkly humorous spin on Roald Dahl’s children’s novel Matilda in this fantastic 1993 adaptation starring Mara Wilson as our bewitching heroine whose unique gifts and kind nature lead her on some life-changing adventures. This screening will take place on Saturday afternoon so do feel free to bring the whole family for the screening and chat.

7. It’s About the Journey: Danny Denton and Claire-Louise Bennett – An Taibhdhearc – 16:00

Two of Ireland’s most lyrical stylists and ambitious storytellers come together for an event about how craft and voice can shape the novel. In Danny Denton’s new novel, All Along the Echo, two radio hosts on a publicity stunt from a car dealership find themselves drawn into a wild and impossible quest for truth and love. In Claire-Louise Bennett’s Checkout 19, the quest is uniquely sensory, personal, internal, as the book’s protagonist attempts to keep her creativity and sensitivity alive in a world that seeks to snuff them out. In Conversation with Lisa McInerney.

8. True to Your Heart: Emer McLysaght, Sarah Breen and Bethany Rutter – Town Hall Theatre – 17:00

Big-hearted novels from Emer McLysaght, Sarah Breen and Bethany Rutter ask these questions with warmth and effervescent humour.

In Aisling in the City, Ireland’s sweetheart returns and this time she’s off to New York! A surprise job offer brings Aisling to NYC, where she tries on the Big Apple lifestyle for size, complete with crazy work schedules, new friends and hot dates. But can it compare to the community and belonging she feels in Ballygobbard?

Bethany Rutter is the author of YA titles Melt My Heart and No Big Deal, as well as a journalist and blogger who writes about fat bodies, plus-size fashion and body politics including the benefits and limitations of body positivity. She co-hosts the podcast “What Page Are You On?”.

9. Light from Darkness: Claire Keegan & Annemarie Ní Churreáin – An Taibhdhearc – 19:00

Claire Keegan and Annemarie Ní Churreáin explore some of the darkest times in recent Irish history with compassion and grace in their most recent work. Ní Churreáin’s collection, The Poison Glen, ties traditional tales of stolen children to a series of responses to church- and state-run institutions which separated mothers from their children. Keegan’s Small Things Like These (a runaway bestseller), features the family of a coal merchant in Co. Wexford in 1985, and his discoveries in the convent and training school at the edge of town. Moderated by the poet Elaine Feeney, this conversation is sure to be a powerful one.

10. The Sound of Paradise: Raymond Antrobus and Roger Robinson – Town Hall Theatre – 20:30

We’re delighted to welcome to the Cúirt centre stage two award-winning poets who have changed the shape of poetry in Britain. Roger Robinson became the first Black British poet to win the 2019 T.S. Eliot prize for his collection A Portable Paradise, and was a co-founder of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen, a hugely influential grassroots poetry collective based in London.

Raymond Antrobus was the first poet to win the Rathbone Folio Prize, and his stunning combination of skills as a performer and literary craftsman have seen his two most recent collections, The Perseverance and All The Names Given, win a host of awards. With Antrobus and Robinson’s talents and experiences, this is a scintillating event for seasoned poetry lovers and new readers alike.

11. Festival Club – Carroll’s on Dominick St – 20:00pm

For a very special Saturday night event, join our five selected IWC/Cúirt Young Writer Delegates as they share creative work developed during the festival, inspired by the wide range of events and talks, and through working with writer mentor Lisa McInerney. At this showcase, our five selected IWC/Cúirt Young Writer Delegates William Keohane, Rere Ukponu, Hannah Gallagher, Luca Melis and Ella Gaynor will share some of their recently developed creative work inspired by the festival, MC’d by guest writer Megan Nolan. . The night will be rounded off with DJ excellence from Lolz.

The festival runs until Sunday 10^th April 2022.