The full programme for the 15th Ennis Book Club Festival has been announced.
This year’s festival will be an exciting hybrid of online events in March with live events taking place in April and September. As always Ennis Book Club Festival 2021 will offer opportunities to engage with your favourite authors and features an additional programme of events for younger readers.
The Festival cannot welcome you to Ennis this March but as ever, it will provide lots of events to stimulate your discussion and to inspire your reading, which you can enjoy from the comfort of your own couch.
On Friday 5th March, Ennis Book Club Festival kicks off with Ask the Author with Naoise Dolan, whose 2020 debut novel Exciting Times has been described as ‘fiercely intelligent and brutally funny.’
Award winning author and comedian Colm O’Regan follows at 8pm in an event of anecdotes, some comedy and fun, following his publication Anne Devine: Handle with Care.
On Saturday 6th from 11.30am book clubs from across the country will have an opportunity to meet and greet acclaimed Irish author Donal Ryan in an intimate online meet up, as he chats about his most recent novel, Strange Flowers. Readers and bookclubs are invited to sign up, for a small group chat with Donal, where they will get to ask direct questions and enjoy the feeling of an intimate, bookclub space. Entire bookclubs can sign up to one slot but spaces are limited so decide on one and book in, as soon as the programme goes up!
Also, on Saturday at 6pm Kevin Barry will chat about his new collection of short stories, That Old Country Music, followed by a short film of the title story of the collection, made this month by artist and filmmaker, Laura Sheeran.
Saturday night at the Festival will come to a close with Roddy Doyle joined by Patrick Freyne, talking about stupid ideas, pubs, secrets and intimacy. Patrick Freyne was shortlisted for the Newcomer Irish Book Award for his book OK, Let’s do your Stupid Idea, a book about experience, learning, difficult situations, a mix of funny and poignant moments. He will be chatting with Roddy about his most recent novel Love, that centres on two male characters talking in a bar, unravelling a story between them.
A firm Festival favourite, 10 Book You Should Read kicks off Sunday virtually and features Edel Coffey with Patrick Freyne and Elaine Feeney discussing their book recommendations for 2021. This event will be broadcast by Clare FM over the weekend of the festival and will be shared as an audio file on the Ennis Bookclub Festival website after the weekend.
At 7pm on Sunday, a collaboration of poets and visual Artists, join together, to commemorate the Record Break Poetry Art Exposition’19. At the event, ekphrastic poetry will be read, whilst electronic versions of the visual works will be viewed.
On 30th March, Festival Artistic Director, Dani Gill will be in conversation with Niall Williams in an event called Clare Reads, in association with Clare Library. Niall’s most recent novel, This is Happiness was nominated for The Irish Book Awards and the Walter Scott prize.
Ennis Book Club Festival, in association with Clare Library also features an extensive programme for younger readers, including the chance to participate in Fighting Words, a creative writing workshop for Secondary Schools, in collaboration with Clare County Library’s Teen Week taking place on Zoom on Tuesday 2nd March. Special guest Roddy Doyle will join the Fighting Words Team, Fighting Words volunteers from Clare and library staff.