Capital's book lovers enjoy weekend of lively, thought-provoking debate

“I’M GOING to read myself to death,” journalist and author Nell McCafferty announced during a talk in Dublin City Hall.

Sitting in the Lord Mayor’s chair, at one point with her red Dr Martens boots on the table, McCafferty explained how she had carefully arranged a collection of literature – Seamus Heaney, Sarah Waters and “a few cheap magazines” – around her bed, so she could be ready when the end was near.

McCafferty, who was on crutches after an operation on her knee, was speaking at the Dublin Book Festival.

The three-day event, now in its third year, had many packed readings over the weekend and looked set to beat last year’s turnout of 11,000, according to the organisers. With all events free of charge, passersby, children and tourists mixed with fans and dedicated readers to watch Carlo Gebler, Ciaran Carson, Gordon Snell, Theo Dorgan and Thomas Kilroy, among many others. Discussions ranged from the fallout from the Murphy report into sexual abuse, to whether adults should review children’s books, the legacy of Italian chippers in Ireland and the dangers of “literary warfare”.

A debate about Irish rebels opened the festival on Saturday morning with author Diarmaid Ferriter warning against “cartoonish” views of history. As we near the centenary of the Irish revolution, he said, we need to move away from “simplistic approaches” to history and investigate complex, layered versions of the past. Historian Ruan O’Donnell talked about the missing details of Irish history and how there was an urgent need for “many more books to be written”.

Do we need book reviews? This was a key question during a thought-provoking discussion into the art of literary reviewing on Saturday afternoon. “We are all critics now,” said Caroline Walsh, literary editor of The Irish Times, who questioned what role the critic now played amidst the rise of book clubs, online reviews and blogging, and bookshop recommendations.

Some reviews are “too kind to be useful”, novelist and children’s writer Siobhan Parkinson believed, calling for a more serious approach to children’s book reviews. Author Greg Baxter talked about being “gifted with rage”, and the dangers of jealousy and “irresponsible” reviewing. Author Carlo Gebler set out his own list of rules for reviewing: do not review books you hate; do not try to be clever; do not talk about yourself or use reviews to help friends or get favours.

The “puzzle” of Roberto Bolaño, the late Chilean poet and author of 2666, was explored in a tribute session yesterday morning. Journalist Sergio Marras delved into the many mysteries and curiosities of the work and life of Bolaño, once a vagabond who wandered from Chile to Spain and France. Marras explained how, when Bolaño discovered that he was terminally ill in 1993, he wrote a novel every year until his death in 2003. “It was a race against death,” Marras said.

Journalist and founding member of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement Mary Kenny reminisced about the contraceptive train of 1971, and talked about how Irish Catholicism became a “women’s religion”. But what started out as a discussion about feminism, ended with musings about the Queen, horses, Tupperware parties and a disgruntled member of the audience accusing Kenny of being too religious and conservative. It all made for a suitable prelude, no doubt, to a debate about the legacies of feminism which takes place today, International Women’s Day, as the festival continues.

www.dublinbookfestival.com