Seamus Heaney, Dalkey Book Festival director Sian Smyth, and Bono in St Patrick's Church of Ireland during the 2012 festival

The Dalkey Book Festival (/ˈdɔːki/ DAW-kee) is an annual literature festival held in Dalkey, County Dublin, Ireland, for four days in June. Since its inception in 2010 by Sian Smyth and David McWilliams,[1][2] the festival has been held at a variety of venues in Dalkey, including Dalkey Castle, the local Town Hall, the Masonic Lodge, both churches, the local primary school, the medieval graveyard (where an Edgar Allan Poe adaptation was performed at midnight) and at various local cafes, bars and hostelries of the town. The compact nature of the town, its historic architecture and its location prompted the BBC's foreign correspondent John Simpson to call Dalkey "the loveliest little seaside town on Earth."[3]

Although the festival started with a literary focus, it celebrates the arts in general, including theatre, film and comedy. It is also a festival of ideas, exploring the worlds of science, technology, current affairs, new politics and global trends.[4]

Timeline

The 2012 festival included writers Seamus Heaney, Joseph O'Connor, Maeve Binchy, Kevin Barry, Eoin MacNamee and Jennifer Johnston, historian Diarmuid Ferriter, comedians Barry Murphy, Gerry Stembridge and Pauline McLynn, and general speakers Declan Kiberd and Sinead Cusack.

The 2013 festival included writers Edna O'Brien, Anne Enright, Frank McGuinness, Donal Ryan, John Boyne, Eoin Colfer, Oisin McGann, comedians Colm O'Regan and Gary Cooke, and general speakers Carl Bernstein, Robert Fisk, Mike Scott and Dawn O'Porter.

The 2014 festival included writers Salman Rushdie,[5] Amos Oz, Sebastian Barry, John Banville, Martina Devlin, Declan Hughes, comedians David O'Doherty, Eleanor Tiernan and Apres Match, actor Eamonn Morrissey, broadcasters Kirsty Wark, Andrea Catherwood, Sinéad Gleeson and Olivia O'Leary and general speakers Rory Sutherland, Bruce Katz, Gary Jermyn and Mark Blyth.

At the 2023 festival, Tom Hanks spoke about his debut novel.[6] It also included Bono, Fintan O’Toole, Jan Carson and Sarah Webb.

At the 2024 festival, Bernie Sanders is expected to attend.[7]

The Dalkey Literary Awards

In 2020, the inaugural Dalkey Literary Awards were announced in advance of the festival of that year. The awards were in conjunction with the festivals long-standing sponsor; Zurich Ireland.[8]

There were prizes for 'Novel of the Year' and 'Emerging Writer'. The prize fund for the competition is totaled at €30,000. The winner of the 'Novel of the Year' award will receive €20,000 and the winner of 'Emerging Writer' award will receive €10,000.[9]

It was also awarded in 2021 and 2022.[10][11]

References

  1. ↑ "Failte Ireland - Tourism development | Case study | Dalkey Book Festival". Failteireland.ie. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "FAQs - Dalkey Book Festival". Dalkey Book Festival. 25 December 2023. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023.
  3. ↑ Lorraine Courtney (15 June 2014). "Books: Comedy, commerce and books at the seaside". Independent.ie. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  4. ↑ "Literature In The Face Of Recession: A Profile Of The Dalkey Book Festival". Irish Publishing News. 17 June 2010. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Salman Rushdie among guests at Dalkey Book Fest". RTÉ TEN. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Bowers, Shauna (1 May 2023). "Tom Hanks to speak at Dalkey Book Festival about release of debut novel". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Thornton, Katy (4 December 2023). "United States Senator Bernie Sanders to headline Dalkey Book Festival 2024". Lovin Dublin. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "DALKEY LITERARY AWARDS". zurich.ie. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  9. ↑ "Dalkey Book Festival launch €30,000 Literary Awards". RTE. 5 March 2020. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  10. ↑ "Dalkey Literary Awards 2021".
  11. ↑ "Dalkey Literary Awards 2022".
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