Stellar line-up for Wild Atlantic Words

The days are counting down to this year’s Castlebar literary festival, Wild Atlantic Words, with a stellar lineup of guests across a wide spectrum of prose and poetry, history and fiction, biography and new writing.

The line-up of big names reflects the growing status of Wild Atlantic Words as one of the country’s major literary events, and the varied programme is certain to attract record numbers to Castlebar for the week of October 9 to 15.

Among the distinguished names at the festival will be Katriona O’Sullivan, the inspirational author of ‘Poor’, lauded by broadcaster Pat Kenny as the book of the year. Katriona will be in conversation with broadcaster and entrepreneur Áine Kerr.

John McKenna will present an evening of readings and song, ‘Absent Friend’, drawn on his 30-year friendship with the late Leonard Cohen; while Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick will discuss their captivating book of social history, ‘Bad Bridget’, crime, mayhem and the lives of Irish emigrant women.

Darina Molloy will host an evening with Mike McCormack and Donal Ryan in ‘Solar Bones and Spinning Hearts’, while Donal Ryan will also preside at the prize-giving ceremony for the WAW short story award, one of the outstanding highlights of the week-long festival.

Among the much anticipated book launches listed for the festival are Mairtín Ó Maicín’s, ‘On This Day in Mayo’, with a compelling Mayo story attached to each day of the calendar year. ‘Between Mee and You’ will see the launch by Johnny Mee, raconteur and columnist, of his collection of hometown stories, while world champion boxer, Carl Frampton, will launch his autobiography at the Connacht Boxing Centre of Excellence, Lough Lannagh.

Mary Kennedy will host the launch by Niamh Holleran-McGing of her searingly honest memoir, ‘The Journey to You – a Love Story Through Infertility’, while record-breaking swimmer, Nuala Moore, will launch her ‘Limitless – Extreme Swimming’. Renowned journalist and author Declan Varley will be talking about his eagerly anticipated new book, ‘Mayo – A Biography in Nine Lives’, a compelling account of the Mayo football quest for glory.

Academic and historian, Michael O’Connor, will deliver a talk on the Magdalene Asylums of Mayo, while Marie Louise O’Donnell hosts the landmark ‘Birth of a Nation’ at the Courthouse, with EU Commissioner, Mairéad McGuinness, historian, Diarmaid Ferriter and journalist, Justine McCarthy.

Among the usual fringe events of the festival will be Ken Armstrong’s ‘A Poem and a Pint’, while John Healy hosts the popular ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down’. The week-long programme also includes a full range of children’s literary events.

All events will be hosted at the Festival Dome, Bridge St, Castlebar, unless otherwise stated on the programme.

See www.wildatlanticwords.ie for more details.