|
|
Dear friends and colleagues,
|
This year's Belfast Book Festival will return from 10 – 13 June 2021 with a programme of live events for book lovers. The Festival is presented by the Crescent Arts Centre and will feature authors from across Northern Ireland, the rest of the UK and Ireland as well as Germany, France and the United States.
|
Some of the themes that will be touched on this year include feminism, grief, disability, sexuality, body image and the care system. The event will see the launch of BBC Radio 1 Presenter Annie McManus’ debut novel ‘Mother, Mother’ along with other highlights.
|
We have outlined some of the events we are really looking forward to below, which feature a lot of the authors who have visited and worked with our office in Brussels!
|
We hope you enjoy the line-up of events and we would love to hear which ones you loved the most! @BrusselsNI.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Join Lucy Caldwell, Louise Kennedy and Mira Sethi in conversation on their Short Story Collections which are being published this spring. This is a lovely opportunity to hear from three writers whose stories charm and disarm, anchor us in place and upend our sense of it. All three authors have written collections of exquisite short stories touching on many relevant themes. As part of the event, Chair of the Mairtin Crawford Award for Short Story 2021, Lucy Caldwell, will reveal the Winner of this year’s Short Story Award. Read more about the authors and their work here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Queer Love: Colm Toibin, Shannon Yee & Paul McVeigh
|
|
|
|
Queer Love seeks to go some way to redress the lack of acknowledgement of the LGBTQI+ community in Irish literary anthologies. The Anthology features a mixture of established writers of international standing, writers who have been making a splash in recent years and new emerging writers. Join Anthology Editor Paul McVeigh who will be in conversation with contributors Colm Toibin and Shannon Yee to discuss the book. Find out more about each of the panellists and register for the event here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Come along and join the Paper Lanterns team as they discuss the idea of writing the Teen Voice. In this facilitated discussion, the team will talk about the adult writer writing for teen readers, as well as the voice of the teen writer exploring and documenting their own experiences. Paper Lanterns: A literary journal for readers and writers of Teen and Young Adults literature who publish a quarterly journal that includes a vast range of work including creative writing, non-fiction, book reviews, and artwork by teens aged 13–18, as well as adults and international submissions. The publication has proudly published works by teen and adult writers who represent these diverse communities in Ireland, the UK, and around the world.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Conor O’Callaghan in Conversation with Glenn Patterson
|
|
|
|
Join these two writers in conversation about their work. Connor O’Callaghan, originally from Dundalk, presents his second novel We Are Not in the World, a story of grief, shame and love in all its complex, dark and glorious manifestations. Glenn Patterson is the author of ten novels and has written plays for Radio 3 and Radio 4. It was a pleasure to host Glenn in Brussels for our lunchtime poetry reading in December 2011.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Magic Realism in Modern Literature
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Understanding Our Stories, Understanding Ourselves
|
|
|
|
In partnership with Barnardo’s NI, Belfast Book Festival will bring together Bafta nominated International prize winning writer Lemn Sissay, child psychologist Dr William Coman and political journalist and commentator Alex Kane. Enjoy a conversation, chaired by Head of Barnardo’s NI, Michele Janes, that explores the psychological nature of story-telling and the power of narrative. Read more and register for the event here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Seamus Heaney’s Belfast and Beyond
|
|
|
|
This event will consist of Roy Foster, one of Ireland’s greatest living historians and literary biographers, alongside actor Ian McElhinney to discuss and read Heaney’s work. Ian grew up in Belfast and has featured in a number of roles at the Lyric Players Theatre. However, he is perhaps most recognised for his role as Barristan Selmy in Game of Thrones or Granda Joe in Derry Girls. Follow the event here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
