After having to suddenly jump ship as the country shut down last year, Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival in Dún Laoghaire is back, with two days of virtual literary events this weekend, March 27th-28th. Guests range from Noam Chomsky to Zadie Smith, Rebecca Solnit to Max Porter.
On the go since 2009, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Libraries’ festival is one of the earliest on Ireland’s literary calendar, and while continuing Level 5 restrictions mean events can’t be held in puiblic, technology will enable the line-up to be enjoyed from home.
Mountains to Sea picks up on how pivotal this past year has been, and as we continue to expect the unexpected in 2021, learning to be Of The Moment, guest authors will share their own particular moments.
It kicks off early on Saturday with a Books for Breakfast podcast hosted by Enda Wyley and Peter Sirr, and the day ends with one of the world’s leading intellectuals, Prof Noam Chomsky, in conversation with Olivia O’Leary. In between are events with writers including Tishani Doshi, Paula Meehan, Raven Leilani (shortlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction), Danielle McLaughlin, Joe Biden’s biographer Evan Osnos talking to Katie Hannon, Zadie Smith reading from her first children’s book Weirdo, poetry from Martina Evans and John McAuliffe and historical fiction by Billy O’Callaghan and Ciarán McMenamin.
Sunday’s line-up opens with Kit de Waal and Cathy Rentzenbrink exploring the joy of reading, and closes with novelist Polly Samson accompanied by her husband, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. Sunday also includes conversations with psychiatrist Jim Lucey, Boot with Shane Hegarty for younger audiences, Max Porter on The Death of Francis Bacon, Irish fiction debut authors Louise Kennedy and Una Mannion and historian, activist and award-winning author Rebecca Solnit.
There’s also a series of film poems free online, including the premiere of Selfie by Victoria Kennefick, exploring the sense of powerlessness a young woman feels growing from childhood to adulthood.
