Ireland on show in Frankfurt

THE DIRECTOR of Strokestown Park House and Famine Museum in Co Roscommon, Mr Luke Dodd, is to be curator of an Irish exhibition…

THE DIRECTOR of Strokestown Park House and Famine Museum in Co Roscommon, Mr Luke Dodd, is to be curator of an Irish exhibition at the Frankfurt Book Fair next October.

The exhibition will be part of "Ireland and its Diaspora", a themed festival focusing on Irish books and writers. Every year one country's literature is highlighted at Frankfurt, which hosts the world's biggest publishing event. Ireland fought off competition from three other countries for the honour this year.

The exhibition is being supported by the Arts Council as part of its promotion of Irish publishing.

The exhibition, expected to be seen by about 70,000 people, will tell the story of Irish writing from the time of the illuminated manuscripts. Among the writers attending and reading from their works will be Seamus Heaney and novelist Edna O'Brien.