ALL those with fond memories of the Dublin Writers' Festivals organised by the late Lar Cassidy will be delighted to see his idea restored by a trio with all the right credentials. This summer, Jack Gilligan, arts officer of Dublin Corporation, Peter Sirr of the Irish Writer's Centre and Theo Dorgan of Poetry Ireland are piloting a new festival that should appeal to both resident culture vultures and the more migratory tourist variety when it kicks off on June 13th.
The three have succeeded in pulling together a good selection of literary types and compiling a programme that certainly aims to have something for everyone - Seamus Heaney's in there, along with Marian Keyes, Edna O'Brien, Maeve Binchy, Dermot Healy and Deirdre Purcell, plus international writers including James Kelman, Carol Ann Duffy, and Romanian IMPAC award winner, Herta Muller, who will travel from Berlin. The final day coincides with that most literary of days, Bloomsday.