The West Cork Literary Festival welcomes two of Ireland’s laureates for a very special event, as Laureate for Irish Fiction Sebastian Barry and Laureate na nÓg Sarah Crossan join Alex Clark in conversation. The event will take place on Monday 15 July at 8.30pm, and tickets can be booked here.
Sebastian Barry is the second Laureate for Irish Fiction and was awarded the honour by the Arts Council in early 2018. Sarah Crossan is a poet and novelist. In May 2018, she was announced as Ireland’s fifth Laureate na nÓg.
The festival will also feature readings, writing workshops, industry events and talks as well as workshops and readings for children and teenagers. The 2019 line-up includes Mary Robinson, Graham Norton, Tracey Thorn, Sarah Moss, Stephen James Smith, Kevin Barry, Joseph O’Connor, John Boyne, Anne Carson, Sinéad Gleeson, Emilie Pine, Patrick Gale, Tessa Hadley, Hugo Hamilton, Catherine Ryan Howard, Raynor Winn, Rosita Boland, Anjali Joseph and many more. Full details of the programme can be found here.
The Laureate for Irish Fiction promotes Irish literature nationally and internationally and encourages the public to engage with high quality Irish fiction. The Laureate for Irish Fiction has been developed by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and is supported by University College Dublin (UCD) and New York University (NYU).
Laureate na nÓg is an initiative of the Arts Council. It is supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and Poetry Ireland and is managed by Children’s Books Ireland. The honour was established by the Arts Council to engage young people with high quality literature and to underline the importance of children’s literature in our cultural and imaginative lives.
