Ennis Book Club Festival has announced announce an early bird ticket offer for a selection of key events at Festival 2025, taking place from Friday 7th – Sunday 9th March at various venues throughout the town and county.
The 2025 Festival will offer a vibrant programme of live events and activities for book lovers of all ages, opportunities to engage with your favourite authors and this year, a great Christmas present for the readers in your life!
Friday 7th March sees novelist Andrew O’Hagan in conversation with Wendy Erskine.
O’Hagan’s ambitious novel, Caledonian Road takes us on a picaresque journey through a city and a life. Born in Glasgow, O’Hagan has been nominated for the Booker Prize and he won the E.M. Forster prize. Belfast writer Wendy Erskine whose new novel The Benefactors is due shortly, will explore the world of Caledonian Road with Andrew, in what promises to be a fascinating discussion.
Short stories have a distinctive place in the modern Irish literary tradition and in The Art of the Short Story, writers Cathy Sweeney (Modern Times), Maggie Armstrong (Old Romantics) & David Butler (The Witch & Other Stories) will explore what makes the short story form so intriguing, in conversation with Olivia Fitzsimons. The winner of our short story competition will also read at this event.
In a headline Friday night event in glór, Ann Cleeves will talk about her work with Brian McGilloway. Award-winning author of the Shetland, Vera and Two Rivers novels, Cleeves has written some of the most popular crime fiction of recent times. Her books have sold over 5 million copies, and she has had two crime series adapted for television; Vera and Shetland are major dramas starring Brenda Blethyn and Douglas Henshall respectively. In this wide-ranging discussion with writer Brian McGilloway (The Empty Room, The Last Crossing), Ann will explore the journey of her writing life so far.
Ten Books You Should Read is one of the most popular events of the festival, where audiences get to probe the minds of two guests and the books that inspire them. The 2025 Festival guests for this firm favourite is Ennis native actor and screenwriter, Mark O’Halloran (Adam & Paul and Viva), and Oliver Callan, the creative force behind Callan’s Kicks as well as presenter of the wide-ranging morning show Oliver Callan on RTÉ Radio One.
Debut Novelists this year features Aimée Walsh, Patrick Holloway and Cathy Sweeney.
With her first novel, Exile, Aimée Walsh opens out a world of unsettling possibilities and haunted territories. In The Language of Remembering, Patrick Holloway takes on the charged subjects of home, memory and language in a tender exploration of how to remake an identity, whilst Cathy Sweeney’s debut novel Breakdown explores a woman rebelling against traditional roles and expectations.
In a very special event, the 2025 Festival will remember and celebrate the legendary Clare writer Edna O’Brien with a panel discussion featuring Andrew O’Hagan, Danielle McLaughlin and Eoin McNamee in conversation with Rachael English. O’Brien’s work provoked controversy and discussion over the years and though sometimes vilified, she remained completely steadfast to the cause of writing, her life’s work. Her wit and knowledge, beauty and talent as a writer will be explored and celebrated in this panel discussion by writers who loved her work and cherish the inestimable contribution she made to Irish literature. Early booking advised for this one.
EBCF is delighted to welcome Ian McEwan to the festival, to explore his many books and their themes. Known for the precision and clarity of his writing, McEwan’s work explores the turmoil of human interactions, class difference, family relationships and loss. McEwan won the Booker Prize with Amsterdam whilst his next novel, Atonement, garnered acclaim and was adapted into an Oscar-winning film. He will be in conversation with arts journalist and presenter of Arena, Seán Rocks, in a wide-ranging discussion, on Saturday 8th March in glór.
And finally, The Sunday Symposium investigates the theme of international conflict in a globalised world. Writer Sally Hayden (My Fourth Time We Drowned), photo-journalist Paulo Nunes dos Santos and professor of Middle East politics Vincent Durac will examine the charged subjects of peace & war. In Gaza and Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, Iraq & Afghanistan, and parts of the continent of Africa, conflict and territorial struggles are not just a threat to local populations but also have global impacts. In this discussion our guests will explore what this could mean for the coming years.
Tickets for eight key events will be available for sale from glór Box Office and online from this Tuesday 10th December with 10% discount when five of the eight available events are booked. The offer closes on Saturday December 21st.
Events will go on sale on www.ennisbookclubfestival.com
Please note that some events are of limited capacity, early booking advised.
See www.ennisbookclubfestival.com for full details on all events.
In 2007 a small group of local volunteers, in association with Clare County Library, identified the need for a new literary and social event to replace the demised Ennis October Arts Festival. Being members of a local Book Club the wish was to create a literary event that focused primarily on readers and book lovers.
The Ennis Book Club Festival aims to promote and celebrate reading. Each year, readers both from Ireland and further afield, come to Ennis to share the joy of reading. Audiences include avid readers, those who haven’t had the time to pick up a book in some years, those with a keen interest in current affairs, those who are simply looking to be inspired.