This year’s Cúirt festival, which runs from April 21st to 26th, promises its usual exciting presentations of the very best in contemporary literature.
Irish writers include Mary Costello, Ardal O’Hanlon, Edel Coffey, Neil Jordan, Vona Groarke, Jessica Traynor, Louise O’Neill, Liz Nugent, Mary O’Malley, Rita Ann Higgins, Susannah Dickey, Anne Enright and Sinéad Morrissey. Visitors include Gwendoline Riley, Adania Shibli, Balsam Karam, Mikesh Shukla, Alan Davies, Polly Barton, Claire-Louise Bennett and Juliano Zaffino.
Director Manuela Moser said: “With this year’s theme, Finding the Words, we invite you to celebrate literature and the ways in which writers shape the way we see the world, fuel our imaginations, provide clarity, and broaden our minds.”
Cúirt will also have seven Irish-language events including a discussion of Dinnseanchas – the lore of place in contemporary Irish-language literature; and Celia de Fréine discussing how she brings her thoughts to the page.
The Cúirt Lecture 2026 will be delivered by Sarah Clancy who will reflect on her time with the Global Sumud Flotilla. The festival will also have events with a range of journals – The Stinging Fly (climate issue) ROPES, Banshee, Pigs Back, PVA and Tolka.
Events for children include Gyasi Sheppy’s debut children’s book But Dancing is for Girls! and Children’s Story Time in Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop.
Three events will honour Seamus Heaney, Maeve Brennan and Manchán Magan, reflecting on their legacy and the words they left us with; and Cúirt Poetry Sessions will be in association with Poetry Ireland.
Cúirt 2026 has partnered with the Galway Arts Centre on a Writer in Residence scheme, with writer Pádraig Regan curating a show ‘usual and generous ways’.
For the full programme, please log on to cuirt.ie
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In The Irish Times tomorrow, Booker Prize winner Anna Burns reflects with me on her life and career. Neil Jordan tells Donald Clarke about his new novel, The Library of Traumatic Memory. Ronan McGreevy, editor of Seán Lemass: The Lost Memoir, shares some of the late taoiseach’s words of wisdom. James Hawes, author of The Shortest History of Ireland, offers his outsider’s perspective. And there is a Q&A with Sarah Crossan.
Reviews are Michael Cronin on Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs; Roe McDermott on Good Slut by Zoe Strimpel; Claire Hennessy on the best new YA fiction; Colm McKenna on Kids Wait Till You Hear This! by Liza Minnelli; Pat Carty on Hotel Exile by Jane Rogoyska; Mia Levitin on A Beautiful Loan by Mary Costello; Margot Guilhot Delsoldato on Magic & Mechanics; Anne Haverty on Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity by Paul Kingsnorth; Andrew Lynch on Rory O’Connor: To Defend the Republic by Gerard Shannon; Edel Coffey on Hooked by Asako Yuzuki; Julia Kelly on The Woman in the Water by Henrietta McKervey; and Bernard O’Donoghue on Late Heaney by Nicholas Allen.
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The shortlist for the seventh John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize has been announced by the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre, awarded annually for an outstanding debut collection of poetry in the English language.
The shortlisted publications are Dane Holt’s Father’s Father’s Father; Michael Mullen‘s goonie; Karen Downes-Barton‘s Minx; Abu Bakr Sadiq’s Leaked Footages; and Darby Price’s All The Lands We Inherit.
Chair of the judging panel, Prof Eoin McNamee, director of the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre, said: “Along with fellow judges Seán Hewitt and Una Mannion it has once again been a privilege to read first collections of poetry and to choose a shortlist for this year’s Pollard International Poetry Prize. We found ourselves beguiled, held to our task by invention, by poetic languages that are lyric, political, urgent, striking a balance between the ethereal and the worldly. We commend these poets to you.”
Valued at €10,000, the patron is Stephen Vernon, who named the foundation in memory of his grandfather, John Pollard. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Trinity next month.
Previous winners were Hannah Sullivan (2019); Isabel Galleymore (2020); Diane Louie (2021); Gail McConnell (2022); Victoria Adukwei Bulley (2023); Patrick James Errington (2024); Gustav Parker Hibbett (2025).
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As part of works under way to conserve and renew the 18th-century Old Library, Trinity College Dublin has announced a transformational gift that will enhance this dedicated exhibition space and expand public access to Trinity’s world-renowned collections, including the Book of Kells and other cultural treasures.
The €7 million gift from The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation will support the design and construction of a gallery on the ground floor of the Old Library. In acknowledgment of this generous donation, the gallery will be named the Hilary Weston Treasures Gallery, after the late philanthropist and business leader. Born in Dún Laoghaire in Dublin, Weston died in August 2025 at the age of 83. She was Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1997 to 2002, a philanthropist who focused on healthcare, women, education and literature and a recipient of a Trinity honorary degree, in 2004, among many other honours.
Alannah Weston, daughter of Hilary and Galen Weston, said: “My mother was an avid reader and true lover of books. This gift reflects her belief in literature’s power to inform, challenge, and inspire, as well as her commitment to supporting writers through literary prizes in Canada and abroad. She took great pride in her long-standing relationship with Trinity College Dublin, both as an honorary degree recipient and through her foundation’s support to empower future business leaders. She was deeply moved by the dedication to renewing the Old Library and honoured to contribute to the impact it will have in shaping new generations of writers and scholars in Ireland and around the world.”
Dr Linda Doyle, Provost of Trinity, said: “This is a moment to honour the enduring legacy of Hilary Weston, who was an absolutely inspiring leader and philanthropist. Her vision and generosity have left an indelible mark on Trinity.
“In particular, we are deeply grateful to The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation for this transformational gift to our Old Library Redevelopment Project, which will shape and safeguard one of Ireland’s greatest cultural treasures for generations to come.
“The Hilary Weston Treasures Gallery will greatly enrich the public’s experience of the Old Library. It will be a dynamic, engaging space which will also support our academic mission of education and research.”
Librarian and college archivist Helen Shenton said: “As Trinity’s first woman Librarian & College Archivist, it gives me special pleasure to name our Old Library’s first Treasures Gallery after a woman as exceptional as Hilary Weston. As stewards of the Old Library, it is important that this 18th-century national heritage building and its unique collections continue to inspire future generations of students, academics and visitors.”
Trinity’s Old Library is open to the public at present, though many of its collections have been removed for storage. Works on the Old Library are scheduled to start at the end of 2027, with the project expected to be completed in 2030.
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Bedford Square Publishers have acquired debut author Mark Gyves’s crime novel The Boy for publication in September.
The novel is inspired in part by a mid-nineties burgeoning Cork crime scene. Gyves, then a student, watched the city change drastically. By turns terrifying, taut, humane and tender, The Boy tells the origin story of Ireland’s organised-crime epidemic.
Hodder-Williams said “I am thrilled that Mark will be joining our prize-winning crime list. The Boy is utterly engaging from the opening paragraphs, and this is that rare book that appeals to a broad literary readership as well as sophisticated crime-fiction readers.”
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Ireland’s Publishing Show will take place at The Rine Hotel (formerly the Inn at Dromoland) in County Clare from March 17th to 19th, bringing together authors, publishing professionals and industry experts for three days of workshops, talks and networking.
The event, which has sold out for 2026, focuses on helping writers build sustainable careers through practical sessions on book marketing, publishing tools, artificial intelligence in publishing, advertising strategies and reader engagement. A vendor showcase will also connect authors with industry services, including editing, design and publishing platforms.
The event is organised by Indie Network Ireland, founded by Siobhán Purcell. Ireland’s Publishing Show will return in 2027 from March 16th to 18th.indienetworkevents.com
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The Irish Pages Press has been shortlisted for Small Press of the Year at the British Book Awards 2026.
The nomination follows a year of exceptional visibility and growth. In a publishing landscape frequently characterised by caution, The Irish Pages Press says it has remained committed to publishing work of intellectual ambition and lasting cultural value. “Our editorial programme seeks not the formulaic bestseller but titles that contribute meaningfully to literary culture and public discourse.
“Recent highlights include major essay and non-fiction publishing, the continued influence of our biannual journal Irish Pages, and the strong international reception for books such as Genocide in Gaza: Israel’s Long War on Palestine by Oxford historian Avi Shlaim, which has become our most commercially successful title, selling 10,000 copies.”
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Arts Over Borders launches the Samuel Beckett Biennale with a major celebration of the great Irish playwright’s life and work on March 20th and 21st, at 8pm at the Whale Theatre, Greystones. Audiences are invited to the world premiere of a groundbreaking new presentation of Beckett’s most romantic play, Krapp’s Last Tape. Olivier-nominated actor Malcolm Sinclair performs a rare duologue for one actor, with AI-generated voice technology recreating the younger Krapp 30 years earlier. Staged on the Spring Equinox, the event reflects Beckett’s connection to Greystones. He holidayed there as a boy and his father is buried in the town. Book tickets here: whaletheatre.ie.
