23-28 April 2024

Funding Partners

Programme Partners

Welcome to Cúirt International
Festival of Literature 2024
It is with great pleasure that wewelcome you to the 39th Cúirt
International Festival of Literature.
This year’s festival offers an exciting
programme that will present newideas, offer inspiration, and allow
for conversation and reflection.
Cúirt celebrates stories andideas, with readings, discussions,workshops, and performancesthat bring writers and readers
together. As ever, we’re thrilled tohost a wide selection of world-classauthors who are at the pinnacleof their writing careers, as well as
introducing you to compelling new
voices and debut authors.

Front Cover: All That Survives, Miriam de Búrca
Opposite: Cúirt Pencil outside Nun’s Island Theatre 2023, Emilija Jefremova

Thank you to everyone who has
helped to make this festival
happen: our festival team andvolunteers, the Galway Arts Centre,
our funders, sponsors and partners,
our venues and venue staff, ourbooksellers, everyone who hasoffered help and advice, andabove all, to our wonderful authors,artists, and audience. We’re looking
forward to celebrating 40 yearsof Cúirt with you in 2025.
Manuela Moser
Director

1

Booking Information

Cúirt Team 2024

Galway Arts Centre Team 2024

Director
Manuela Moser
Festival Manager
Aisling O’Riordan
Marketing Officer
Aisling Dolan
Production Manager
Naomi Cantwell
Author Logistics Coordinator
Rita McMahon
Admin AssistantMags Mullen-Hughes
Graphic Design
Clair O’Brien
Artwork
Miriam de Búrca
Festival Intern
Gloriana Loría Sánchez
PR
Kearney Melia Barker
Communications
Photography
Emilija Jefremova

Director & Curator
Megs Morley
General Manager
Tara O’Connor
Galway Youth Theatre Director
Andrew Flynn
Finance Manager
Karen Quinn
Front of House Manager
Siobhán Singleton
CE Supervisor
Derval Byrne

2

Board of Directors
John Caulfield (Chairperson),Mike O’Halloran, Alannah Robins,
Mark Elliot, Sarah Lynch,Sarah Searson, Eithne Verling,
Gavin Murphy

How to bookBook tickets online at cuirt.ie or tht.ie
Tickets can also be purchased from
Town Hall Box Office, 1 Courthouse Square, Galway
Tel: +353 (0)91 569 777
Fees and Concessions
Cúirt strives to be an accessible
and enjoyable festival for everyone.
We offer concession prices tosenior citizens, full-time students(with appropriate ID), the unwaged,
under 18s, people with disabilities
and additional needs.
There is a booking fee of €1 perticket, capped at €5 pertransaction in the case of multiple
ticket purchases.
Complimentary Tickets
In the event that you can’t afford
a ticket, we hold a numberof complimentary tickets.
Please email info@cuirt.ie with‘complimentary ticket’ in thesubject line for more information.
These tickets are allocated on afirst-come, first-served basis. We
hope it gives more people theopportunity to enjoy the festival,
and is designed to help audienceswith limited means. If you canafford our standard ticket price,

we ask that you opt to pay it.
This means we can continue
to offer these benefits to those
who need it most.
GroupsWe also offer discounts forgroups of 10 or more.
To find out more contact
Town Hall Theatre Box Office.
Stay in Touch
cuirt.ie#cuirt2024

3

Cúirt FESTIVAL PLANNER 2024
Time Event

Venue

Cost

Pg

Tuesday 23 April

Time Event

Venue

Cost

Pg

17:30 Una Mannion and Paul Murray

Town Hall Theatre€16/2018

13:00 Poems for Patience Launch

Galway University Hospital

FREE

6

18:00 ROPES Launch

The Hardiman Hotel

FREE

19

14:30 Alice Kinsella

O’Donoghue Theatre€5

6

19:00 Jackie Uí Chionna

An Taibhdhearc€14/1619

17:30 New Writing Showcase

The Mick Lally Theatre

FREE

6

19:00 Bryan Washington

The Mick Lally Theatre€10/1220

19:30 Nuala O’Connor Book Launch

The Mick Lally Theatre

FREE

7

20:30 Lemn Sissay

Town Hall Theatre€16/2021

21:00 Jo Burns and Emily Cooper Book Launch

The Hardiman Hotel

FREE

7

Saturday 27 April
10:00 The Slug & the Snail - Children’s Event

An Taibhdhearc€6/8/20 22

Wednesday 24 April
10:30 Frames of Refrence: Literary Journals

The Mick Lally Theatre

€8/10

8

10:30 Frames of Reference: Poetry

The Mick Lally Theatre

€8/10

22

13:00 Clemens Meyer and Katy Derbyshire

Bank of Ireland Theatre

FREE

9

11:00 Kid’s Storytime

Charlie Byrne’s

FREE

23

13:30 Jan Carson and Patrick deWitt

The Mick Lally Theatre

€8/10

8

12:00 Young Writer Delegates Showcase

The Hardiman Hotel

FREE

23

16:00 A Deep Well of Want - Book Launch

University of Galway Library

FREE

9

13:00 Rafeef Ziadah

An Taibhdhearc€14/1623

17:00 Poetry Reading

The Mick Lally Theatre

€8/10

9

13:30 Omnivore: Food, Writing and Art

The Mick Lally Theatre€10/1224

20:00 Colin Barrett, Lucy Caldwell, Glenn Patterson The Mick Lally Theatre€10/1210

14:30 Black & Irish

Town Hall Theatre€10/1224

21:00 Simon Costello and Miriam Gamble

FREE

10

16:00 Susannah Dickey and Mark O’Connell

An Taibhdhearc€10/1225

17:30 Katherine O’Donnell

The Mick Lally Theatre

€8/10

25

The Hardiman Hotel

Thursday 25 April
10:30 Frames of Reference: Translation

The Mick Lally Theatre

€8/10

11

17:30 Paul Lynch

Town Hall Theatre€16/2026

13:00 Róise Ní Bhaoill

An Taibhdhearc

€8/10

11

19:00 Sinéad Gleeson

An Taibhdhearc€14/1627

14:00 Balsam Karam and Noel O’Regan

The Mick Lally Theatre

€8/10

12

20:30 John Banville and Mike McCormack

Town Hall Theatre€16/2028

14:00 Masters in Creative Writing Showcase

The Hardiman Hotel

FREE

13

21:00 Poetry Reading

The Mick Lally Theatre

€8/10

27

17:30 Molly Hennigan and Clair Wills

An Taibhdhearc€10/12

12

Sunday 28 April

18:30 Cinema Book Club X Cúirt

Pálás€10/12.50 13

11:00 N.S. Nuseibeh and Rafeef Ziadah

The Mick Lally Theatre

€8/10

29

18:30 Elaine Feeney Book Launch

The Mick Lally Theatre€16/2014

11:30 Oein DeBharduin and Richard O’Leary

An Taibhdhearc€10/1230

19:00 Open Mic

The Hardiman Hotel

FREE

13

12:00 Kid’s Storytime

Charlie Byrne’s

FREE

23

20:30 Annie MacManus

An Taibhdhearc€14/1614

13:00 The Stinging Fly Podcast - Caoilinn Hughes Town Hall Theatre€10/1231

14:00 Into the Witchwood - Children’s Event

The Mick Lally Theatre

FREE

31

Friday 26 April

4

10:30 Frames of Reference: Editing Fiction

The Mick Lally Theatre

€8/10

15

14:30 Mary Costello and Thomas Morris

An Taibhdhearc

€8/10

32

13:00 Máiría Cahill and Martin Doyle

Town Hall Theatre€10/1215

16:00 Edel Coffey

Town Hall Theatre€14/1632

13:00 Ferdia Lennon and Colin Walsh

An Taibhdhearc

€8/10

16

17:00 Nicola Dinan and K Patrick

The Mick Lally Theatre

€8/10

33

16:00 Dinnseachas: The Lore of Places - Kerry

An Taibhdhearc€10/1216

18:00 Katriona O’Sullivan and Kieran Yates

An Taibhdhearc€10/1233

16:00 Poetry Reading

The Mick Lally Theatre

€8/10

17

19:30 Poetry Reading - 2024 Finale

Town Hall Theatre€16/2034
5Nuala O’Connor: Seaborne Book
LaunchJoin us at the Mick Lally Theatre as
we officially open Cúirt 2024 withthe launch of the highly-anticipated
new novel by Nuala O’Connor.
Seaborne, published by New Island
Press, is about a novelty-seeking,contrary, stubborn and bisexual
woman called Anne Bonny.
Anne is neurodivergent, brave,capable of deep and enduring
love and hell-bent on a voyage ofself-realisation.

Poems for Patience Launch
Join us for the exhibition launch of this year’s
Poems for Patience, selected and introduced
by Victoria Kennefick. Saolta Arts hopes that the
poetry will give people pause for reflection andspace for hope.
In association with Saolta Arts

Galway University
Hospital

The Mick Lally Theatre

Tues 23 Apr 13:00

Tues 23 Apr 19:30

FREE 60 mins

FREE Ticketed 120 mins
Jo Burns and Emily Cooper:
The Conversation Launch

Alice Kinsella: The Fragmentary Self: On Formand Identity
This lecture sketches Alice Kinsella’s journeyfrom writing poetry to her first book of prose,
Milk: On Motherhood and Madness (2023).
Curated by the Irish Writers Centre, this talk is
the first in a series of IWC National Mentoring
Programme alumni events.

O’Donoghue Theatre
Tues 23 Apr 14:30€5 60 mins

In association with the Irish Writers Centre.
With thanks to Arts in Action
New Writing Showcase
Emerging writers selected from the Over the Edge
Literary Series and Skylight 47/Open Window will
share their new work, alongside the 2024 winnersof the annual Cúirt New Writing Prize.
In association with Over the Edge and Skylight 47
6

The Mick Lally Theatre

Doire Press launch a newcollaborative poetry collection by
Jo Burns and Emily Cooper.
The Conversation is an invented
dialogue between three ofPicasso’s lovers and subjects:
Marie-Thérèse Walter, Dora Maar
and Françoise Gilot. Unmasking thewomen behind the paintings, Jo
and Emily explore what it means tobe an artist, a muse, and a woman,within the intimate secrets andconfessions of the page.

Tues 23 Apr 17:30
FREE Ticketed

MacNeill’s Pub, The Hardiman Hotel

60 mins

Tues 23 Apr 21:00 FREE 60 mins
7

Frames of Reference: Literary
Journals
Irish literary journals are thebedrock of our literary culture,presenting exciting work,
discovering new voices andpublishing them alongside manyof our greatest writers.
Join Lisa McInerny, from The
Stinging Fly, and Emily Cooper and
Dean Fee, from The Pig’s Back, asthey discuss the culture of journals,
the joys and challenges of editing
fiction and non-fiction, and answer
your questions on publishing.

Clemens Meyer: While We Were Dreaming
Join German novelist Clemens Meyer and histranslator, Katy Derbyshire, in conversation with
Lorna Shaughnessy. They will explore their work
together, including While We Were Dreaming,
longlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize.
In association with Arts in Action

BOI Theatre
University of Galway
Wed 24 Apr 13:00
FREE Ticketed 60 mins

A Deep Well of Want: Photographs and Archivesof McGahern Country
Paul Butler launches his book of photography in
the James Hardiman Library, University of Galway,
which presents a visual and documentary journey
through McGahern Country. Accompanied by an
exhibition, more details on page 35.

University of Galway
Wed 24 Apr 16:00
FREE 60 mins

The Mick Lally Theatre
Wed 24 Apr 10:30 €8/10 60 mins
Compassionate Fiction:
Jan Carson and Patrick deWitt
In Jan Carson’s new short story
collection, Quickly, While They Still
Have Horses, she explores the thrillof growing up, love, parenthood andloss - with her trademark profoundcompassion and warm wit.
The Librarianist, by Man Booker
shortlisted Patrick deWitt, is amelancholy reflection on love andloneliness that sparkles with keenobservations of human nature.
Join Jan Carson and Patrick deWittin conversation with Jessica Traynor
to discuss their new work.
The Mick Lally Theatre
Wed 24 Apr 13:30 €8/10 60 mins
8

Poetry Reading: Nick Laird, Brenda Shaughnessy
and Miriam Gamble
We are delighted to welcome three brilliant
poets to the stage. These are poets who writewith passion and intellect, playfully exploring theemotional depths of poetry. Nick Laird’s mostrecent collection, Up Late, was published in 2023,
and the book’s title poem was the winner of the2022 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. Miriam
Gamble’s most recent collection What Planet
was the winner of the Pigott Poetry Prize. She islaunching a new collection of essays Little Acts ofVigilance this month. Brenda Shaughnessy’s workis wry and witty, and her most recent collection
Tanya, is published by Bloodaxe.

The Mick Lally Theatre
Wed 24 Apr 17:00€8/10 60 mins

9

Frames of Reference: Translation
Literary translation is a powerful
and increasingly necessary tool tobring new work to new readers.

An Evening with Colin Barrett, Lucy Caldwell and Glenn Patterson
Glenn Patterson, Lucy Caldwell and Colin Barrett are compassionate,playful and stylish writers.
In Colin Barret’s Wild Houses, a simmering feud between a small-time
drug dealer, Cillian English, and County Mayo’s enforcers, Gabe and Sketch
Ferdia, spills over into violence and an ugly ultimatum. Lucy Caldwell’s
latest collection of short stories Openings explores themes of motherhoodand marriage, love and longing. Glenn Patterson’s Two Summers is a pairof novellas, exploring themes of self-discovery, resilience and nostalgia.
With the first set in Belfast and the second in New York we find young
men on the cusp of adulthood, wearing Donkey Jackets and listening to
The Shangri-Las.
The Mick Lally Theatre Wed 24 Apr 20:00 €10/12 60 mins
Simon Costello and Miriam
Gamble Book Launch
Beginning as a series of poetry
readings on a Dutch barge
moored in Belfast, The Lifeboat
Press has been publishing poetry
in small pamphlets for almosta decade. They will be launchingtwo new publications by poets
Miriam Gamble and Simon
Costello, accompanied by shortreadings from their new work.

10

Clemens Meyer, Katy Derbyshire,
and Jacques Testard join the
director of Literature Ireland Sinéad
Mac Aodha, to discuss the craft,creation and industry inherent totranslation.
The Mick Lally Theatre
Thurs 25 Apr 10:30 €8/10 60 mins
Róise Ní Bhaoill: Imram
Cnuasacht gearrscéalta le Róise
Ní Bhaoill, An Post Leabhar Ficsin
Gaeilge na Bliana 2023.
Tugtar ar thurais muid sna scéalta
seo, turais intinne, turais go críocha
aduaine, turais go tíortha atástollta ag an choimhlint agus ag
an athrach; ach is turais go croí nadaonnachta iad go léir, le daoine
atá ag cuartú saol dóchasach úr
nó le daoine a bhfuil orthu gníomhú
in aghaidh a dtola.
Róise Ní Bhaoill’s collection of shortstories Imran and other stories,
winner of the An Post Foras na
Gaeilge Irish Language Fiction Bookof the Year Award of 2023, takes thereader on many journeys.
Tacaithe ag Foras na Gaeilge

MacNeill’s Pub, The Hardiman HotelAn Taibhdhearc

Wed 24 Apr 21:00 FREE 60 mins

Thurs 25 Apr 13:00 €8/10 60 mins
11

Carrying Grief: Balsam Karamand Noel O’Regan

University of Galway: Masters in Creative Writing
Showcase

The Singularity, Balsam Karam’s
second novel, and Though the
Bodies Fall, Noel O’Regan’s debut,
both grapple with the idea of loss
and the internal struggles of theircharacters as they come to termswith what they have witnessed.

This promises to be an engaging, dynamic
showcase of some of the most exciting new
voices in literature. Students will each read fromworks-in-progress across fiction, non-fiction
and poetry. The session will be introduced by
Elaine Feeney, Lecturer in Creative Writing,
University of Galway.

MacNeill’s Pub
The Hardiman Hotel
Thurs 25 Apr 14:00
FREE Ticketed 60 minsThough the Bodies Fall follows
one man’s journey throughdepression, trauma and absence.
The Singularity is an astounding
study of grief, migration andmotherhood.

The Mick Lally Theatre
Thurs 25 Apr 14:00 €8/10 60 mins
Lineage of Secrets: Molly Hennigan
and Clair Wills

Cinema Book Club X Cúirt: The Prime of MissJean Brodie

Join Clair Wills and Molly Hennigan
for a discussion of their newest
works, both of which consider thelegacies of the past, and the longshadows cast by personal andgeographical histories.

Glenn Patterson will introduce one of his favourite
book-to-film adaptations, The Prime of MissJean Brodie, in a special edition of the Cinema
Book Club. Come watch the film, and join us for a
discussion in the Pálás bar afterwards; everyone
is welcome, even if you haven’t read the book!

Wills’ new work, Missing Persons,or My Grandmother’s Secret, is achronicle of the unknown, as theauthor decodes stories, secrets,
and silences. Hennigan’s The
Celestial Realm is an explorationof generational trauma and theseismic impact of mental illness.

Open MicAn Taibhdhearc

Come and share your work with an enthusiastic
audience at our Open Mic night. Test out a newidea, or share something that’s been waiting to
see the light of day. Sign up on the door, places
are limited.
In association with Galway County Council andThree Rings Tuam

Pálás
Thurs 25 Apr 18:30€10/12.50
1h56m plus discussion

MacNeill’s Pub
The Hardiman Hotel
Thurs 25 Apr 19:00
FREE 90 mins

Thurs 25 Apr 17:30 €10/12 60 mins
12

13

Elaine Feeney: All Good Things You
Deserve Launch

Frames of Reference: Editing
Non-Fiction

Join Elaine Feeney in conversation
with Susannah Dickey to celebrate
the launch of her new collection of
poetry All Good Things You Deserve.

Transforming a first draft into amanuscript that’s ready to be
published takes time, energy, anddedication.
Join Jacques Testard and Polly
Barton in conversation with Michael
Magee to explore the uniquerelationship that forms between
writers and their editors. They’ll
discuss the intricacies of editing,and their experience publishing
Barton’s books, from her two booksof non-fiction Fifty Sounds andPorn: An Oral History to Barton’stranslated works.

From the aftershocks of a sexualassault to poems of love, place andnew beginnings, Feeney’s voice isstrong and clear, challenging andconfessional, while speaking to andwith women everywhere. This ispoetry about women’s lives, bodies,
battles, and triumphs. It is fierce,
personal, and powerful.

The Mick Lally Theatre

The Mick Lally Theatre

Thurs 25 Apr 18:30 €16/20 60 mins

Fri 26 Apr 10:30 €8/10 60 mins

Annie MacManus: The Mess We’re In

Growing up in the Troubles:
Máiría Cahill and Martin Doyle

Annie Macmanus’ evocative andlyrical coming-of-age story, The
Mess We’re In, tells the story ofyoung Dubliner Orla Quinn, whomoves to London at the turn of themillennium with nothing but her CDcollection, demo tape and dreams
of making it as a singer-songwriter.
The squalid flat in Kilburn and therelationships formed within it soon
become equally messy. MacManus’
second novel is tender, hilarious
and ultimately hopeful. Join Annie
in conversation with Aoife Barry.

14

Supported by CityLink

Seamus Heaney wrote that‘smoke-signals are loud-mouthedcompared with us’, referring to thetaciturn nature of northern society
in the midst of tribal conflict. Dirty
Linen and Rough Beast upend thischaracterisation: they are two
expansive books where lessertold personal stories play out
against the backdrop of a society
in turmoil. Join Martin and Máiría inconversation with Glenn Patterson,as they discuss how books bear
witness to the toll that conflict cantake on a person, or a community.

An Taibhdhearc

Town Hall Theatre

Thurs 25 Apr 20:30 €14/16 60 mins

Fri 26 Apr 13:00 €10/12 60 mins
15

Debut Novels: Ferdia Lennon andColin WalshColin Walsh’s Kala is anatmospheric, dark coming-of-age
mystery. A group of estranged
friends reunite in their Irish
hometown, plagued by the tragedy
that changed their lives 15 years
earlier. Ferdia Lennon’s Glorious
Exploits is an exhilarating story of
brotherhood, war and art. Set in
412 BC, Sicily, thousands of captive
Athenian soldiers begin to recitelines from the plays of Euripides,
and the line between enemy andfriend begins to blur.
An Taibhdhearc
Fri 26 Apr 13:00 €8/10 60 mins
Dinnseachas: The Lore of Places - Kerry
Dinnseanchas – seo tionscadal ar cuireadh tús leis dornán blianta ó shinle nasc a chruthú idir scríbhneoirí Gaeilge Gaeltachta as Éirinn agus
scríbhneoirí Māori na Nua-Shéalainne chun iniúchadh a dhéanamh ar
an dinnseanchas: miotais, an tírdhreach, an béaloideas agus an stairchoilíneach atá coitianta inár gcultúir éagsúla agus mar a thagann na
gnéithe sin chun cinn ina saothar cruthaitheach scríbhneoireachta.
Cuireadh tús leis in 2021, agus tá seisear scríbhneoir coimisiúnaithe go dtí
seo ag an tionscadal seo chun a gcleachtas a roinnt agus saothar nua afhorbairt. Is é seo an tríú céim den tionscadal, agus beidh saothar cruthaithe
ag Mícheál O Ruairc agus Bríd Ní Mhorain mar chuid de.
Dinnseanchas is a project inspired by the lore of places, bringing together
writers from Ireland and New Zealand to delve into powerful connections
between our cultures, landscapes, mythologies and colonial histories.
Beginning in 2021, this project has so far commissioned six writers to share
their practice and develop new work. This is the third phase of the project,
and will feature work created by Mícheál O Ruairc and Bríd Ní Mhorain.
In partnership with Ealaín na Gaeltachta, Cló Iar-chonnacht and WORD
Christchurch.
An Taibhdhearc Fri 26 Apr 16:00 €10/12 60 mins
16

Poetry Reading: Leontia Flynn, Erika Meitnerand Scott McKendry
We are delighted to welcome three brilliant poets
to the stage.
Leontia Flynn’s fifth collection, Taking Liberties,
takes perfectly pitched swings at the idea of ‘thepoem’ itself, erupting and reassembling ideas ofvoice, subject, and creative license. These poems
are necessary, they are brave, bleak, funny andfiercely intelligent.

The Mick Lally Theatre
Fri 26 Apr 16:00€8/10 60 mins

Scott McKendry’s debut, Gub, is noisy, dark andwitty. Rooted in the language of working-classBelfast, and slipping between eras and timezones, these poems examine generational
trauma, social decay and the rituals of a placewith a fraught history and an uncertain future.
Erika Meitner’s sixth collection, Useful Junk, is part
travelogue, part dream journal and part epistle.
Exploring memory and desire, these poems affirm
that we are made of every intimate moment wehave ever had, and that our desire is what keeps
us alive.
17

Family Affair: Una Mannion and Paul Murray
Paul Murray and Una Mannion delve into theirambitious and expansive novels in conversation
with Sinéad Gleeson.
The Bee Sting (2023 An Post Irish Book of theYear, Novel of the Year, and shortlisted for theBooker Prize) is a story of one family desperately
clinging on as their world falls apart. Can a single
moment of bad luck change the direction of alife? Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on
the tarmac? A bee caught beneath a bridal veil?
In Tell Me What I Am two women are wrenchedapart by a terrible crime and must find away back to each other. When Deena Garvey
disappears in 2004, she leaves behind adaughter and a sister. Over fourteen years andfour hundred miles apart, these two women
unearth the secrets and lies at the heart oftheir family.
Supported by the British Library
18

ROPES Launch
Town Hall Theatre
Fri 26 Apr 17:30€16/20 60 mins

University of Galway’s Masters of Literatureand Publishing class is delighted to launch the
32nd edition of ROPES Literary Journal at Cúirt,featuring both established names and emerging
talents. All proceeds from the 2024 edition will go
to Galway Simon Community. Find out more atropesliteraryjournal.com.

Oyster Bar
The Hardiman HotelFri 26 Apr 18:00
FREE 60 mins

Jackie Uí Chionna: Queen of Codes
When Dr Jackie Uí Chionna began researching
Emily Anderson’s life and work, she uncovereda great secret. For three decades, Galway-born
Emily had been a leading member of British
intelligence, and among the top three female
codebreakers in the world, playing a key rolein both World Wars, working in Bletchley Parkand the Middle East. Join Jackie in conversation
with Vinny Brown, as they delve further into thefascinating life of Emily Anderson in Jackie’sbook Queen of Codes: The Secret Life of Emily
Anderson, Britain’s Greatest Female Codebreaker.

An Taibhdhearc
Fri 26 Apr 19:00€14/16 60 mins

19

Bryan Washington: Family Meal
Bryan Washington’s Family Meal is a tender story
about three young queer men: Cam, TJ and Kai.
Cam and TJ are childhood friends from Houston,
Texas, who haven’t spoken in years. As Cam
struggles to deal with the death of his boyfriend
Kai, he reconnects with TJ and they find their way
back to friendship, working together at TJ’s familybakery. When secrets and wounds become soinsurmountable that they devour us from within,hope, sustenance and friendship can come fromthe most unlikely source. Spanning Los Angeles,
Houston, and Osaka, Family Meal is a story about
how the people who know us the longest can hurt
us the most, but how they also set the standard
for love. From the bestselling, award-winning
author of Memorial and Lot, this is an irresistible,
intimate novel that negotiates themes of food,sex, love, addiction, and grief.
Join Bryan in conversation with Michael Magee.
20

Lemn Sissay: Let the Light Pour In
The Mick Lally Theatre
Fri 26 Apr 19:00€10/12 60 mins

We are delighted to welcome Lemn Sissay
to Cúirt to perform from his latest collection
Let the Light Pour In. For the past decade, Lemn
Sissay has composed a short poem as dawn
breaks each morning. Life-affirming, witty andfull of wonder, these poems chronicle his own
battle with the darkness and are fuelled byresilience and defiant joy. Let the Light Pour In
is a collection of the best of these poems, anda book celebrating this morning practice.

Town Hall Theatre
Fri 26 Apr 20:30€16/20 60 mins

BAFTA-nominated, award-winning writer andbroadcaster, Lemn Sissay OBE has authored manycollections of poetry and plays and his memoir
My Name Is Why was a number one Sunday
Times bestseller. Come, listen, and be inspired.
‘How do you do it?’ said night‘How do you wake up and shine?’‘I keep it simple,’ said light‘One day at a time’21The Slug & the SnailAn Drúchtín agus an SeilideChildren’s Bilingual Event
A gently lyrical children’s book
based on the storytelling traditionof the Irish Traveller community,
DeBhairduin’s tale is about identity,
self-acceptance and different
ways of seeing the world.
Scéal réidh liriciúil do pháistí
bunaithe ar thraidisiún
scéalaíochta phobal an Lucht Siúil
in Éirinn, is scéal faoi fhéiniúlacht,
féinghlactha agus bealaí éagsúla
chun an domhan a fheiceáil atá i
scéal DeBhairduin.

*2 adults, 2 children

An Taibhdhearc
Sat 27 Apr 10:00 60 mins
€6 child / €8 adult / €20 (family)*
Frames of Reference: Poetry
Poetry takes many forms, from the
lyric to the concrete, the epic tofree verse, and poets often explore
the marginalia in between.
Poets Brenda Shaughnessy, Erika
Meitner and Nithy Kasa will be inconversation with Padraig Regan
to discuss the ways in which they
approach writing poems, fromresearch to rhyme, from inspiration
to finishing the final draft, anddiscovering what a poem canbecome when recontextualised.

22

Kid’s Storytime
Hang on to your hats, Storytime has been
Cúirt-ified! Come along and be part of the funat Charlie Byrne’s weekly story time session, withauthor and bookseller Méabh McDonnell. These
special Storytime sessions will feature the best in
Irish authors and illustrators. Open to all ages.

Charlie Byrne’s
BookshopSat 27 11:00/Sun 28 12:00
FREE 45 mins

Young Writer Delegates Showcase
Now in its seventh year, the Irish Writers Centre
Young Writer Delegates Programme has
partnered once again with Cúirt. At this showcase,
the IWC/Cúirt Young Writer Delegates will sharesome of the creative work developed during thefestival with their mentor, Alan McMonagle.

MacNeill’s Pub
The Hardiman HotelSat 27 Apr 12:00
FREE 45 mins

Let it Be a Tale: Rafeef Ziadah
A spoken word performance byPalestinian poet and spoken word
artist Rafeef Ziadah, with live musicby Phil Monsour, in memory ofPalestinian poet and educator
Refaat Alareer.
Rafeef Ziadah brings her powerful
catalogue of poetry to the stage
featuring selections from her
albums Three Generations and
We Teach Life. With original musicalcompositions by Phil Monsour, thissequence of interconnected poems
serves as a poignant and personal
tribute to Palestine, chronicling AlNakba, exile, defiance, and survival.
Let it Be a Tale is a dedicated ode toPalestinian youth who still fly kites in
the face of F16 bombers, who still
remember the names of theirvillages in Palestine and still hear
the sound of doves over Gaza.

The Mick Lally Theatre

An Taibhdhearc

Sat 27 Apr 10:30 €8/10 60 mins

Sat 27 Apr 13:00 €14/16 60 mins
23

Omnivore: Food, Writing and Art
Gather round the metaphoricaldinner table with Bryan Washington,
Jess Murphy, Jennie Moran andLouise Kennedy.
Discussing their shared passion
for making, sharing, writing about,and eating food, this conversation
will cater to all tastes. From writing
recipes and restaurant reviews,
to exploring food in fiction andart-writing, this panel will have youreaching for the fork, or the pen.

Susannah Dickey and MarkO’Connell will discuss our culturalobsession with the true crime genre
and its ethical implications, with
Sinéad Gleeson. Susannah Dickey’s
debut poetry collection ISDAL
focuses on the case of the ‘Isdal
Woman’, posing an inquiry into
society’s fascination with female
victims. In A Thread of ViolenceMark O’Connell interrogates thenature of crime writing as heinvestigates one of the mostnotorious cases in Irish history.

The Mick Lally Theatre

An Taibhdhearc

Sat 27 Apr 13:30 €10/12 60 mins

Sat 27 Apr 16:00 €10/12 60 mins

Black & Irish: Legends, Trailblazers& Everyday Heroes

Katherine O’Donnell: SlantBlack & Irish: Legends, Trailblazers& Everyday Heroes is a landmark
publication in Irish history. It’s acelebration of Black Irish identity,
taking a look at the inspirational
careers, dreams and achievementsof Black Irish public figures fromthe worlds of pop culture, politics,
sport, business and the arts. Join
Leon Diop and Briana Fitzsimmonsas they discuss the book, and theBlack & Irish organisation, which
was founded to advocate for theBlack community in Ireland.

24

Obsessions with Violence:
Susannah Dickey and MarkO’Connell

Slant is the debut novel from
activist, academic and writer
Katherine O’Donnell. A groundbreaking Irish lesbian love story, itfollows Ro as an undocumented
Cork woman witnessing the 1980s
AIDS crisis in America to the 2015
marriage referendum in Ireland.
Join Katherine in conversation
with Paul Maddern, who spent
the 80s in the Castro District in
San Francisco.

Town Hall Theatre

The Mick Lally Theatre

Sat 27 Apr 14:30 €10/12 60 mins

Sat 27 Apr 17:30 €8/10 60 mins25

Sinéad Gleeson: Hagstone
Beautifully written and eerily
haunting, Sinéad Gleeson’s fiction
debut, Hagstone, takes in thedarker side of human nature andthe mysteries of the natural world.
On a wild and rugged island, artist
Nell lives alongside a mysterious
commune of women known as theInions who have travelled there
from all over the world. The island isa place of refuge and safety wherethese women find solace in nature,
and where Nell will create artworkthat challenges everything she
thought she knew.
An Taibhdhearc
Sat 27 Apr 19:00 €14/16 60 mins
Poetry Reading: Joey Connolly,
Abigail Parry and K Patrick

Paul Lynch: Prophet SongIn November 2023, Paul Lynch became thesixth Irish writer to win the Booker Prize for his
outstanding novel Prophet Song. Set in an
imagined Ireland that is descending intotyranny, this novel is an exhilarating, propulsive
and confrontational portrait of a country – anda family – on the brink of catastrophe. On a dark,
wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-offour Eilish Stack answers her front door to find the
GNSB on her doorstep. Two officers from Ireland’s
newly formed secret police want to speak withher husband, a trade unionist.
This is a work of breathtaking originality,
described as a ‘soul-shattering and true’ novelthat offers a devastating vision of societal
collapse, political anxieties and a deeply
human portrait of a woman’s fight to hold herfamily together. Join Paul in conversation with
Paula Shields from Arena, RTÉ R1.
26

Town Hall Theatre
Sat 27 Apr 17:30€16/20 60 mins
Supported byDubrayExperience work by three of the
UK’s most exciting contemporary
poets, all approaching questionsof identity from different vantage
points – language, ecology, andqueer eroticism. These awardwinning writers perform distinct andsubversive poetic manoeuvres, inorder to broach pertinent questions
about the failure of language, theimpact of environmental collapse
upon intimacy, and the fluidity of
the lived self, as an inhabitant of
the body.

The Mick Lally Theatre
Sat 27 Apr 21:00 €8/10 60 mins
27

An Evening with John Banville and Mike
McCormack
Booker Prize winner John Banville and Mike
McCormack join Edel Coffey to discuss their latest
novels The Lock Up and This Plague of Souls.
In The Lock Up Detective Inspector Stafford andpathologist Dr Quirke return to face their mosttroubling case yet, as they investigate theapparent suicide of history scholar Rosa Jacobs
in 1950s Dublin.
In Mike McCormack’s This Plague of Souls, Nealon,
just released from jail, returns to his family
home in the West of Ireland. He finds an empty
house. It seems the world has forgotten thathe even existed. Poignant and exciting, this is aportrayal of a man and his place in society – ametaphysical thriller.

28

Palestinian Voices with Rafeef Ziadah andAmanie Issa
Town Hall Theatre
Sat 27 Apr 20:30€16/20 60 mins

Rafeef Ziadah is a Palestinian spoken word
artist and human rights activist based in London.
She has released three albums of spoken word
poems and music, Hadeel, We Teach Life, andmost recently, Three Generations. She has
performed her poetry in many countries.

The Mick Lally Theatre
Sun 28 Apr 11:00€8/10 60 mins

Amanie Issa, born and raised in Bethlehem,
Palestine, is a first year PhD scholar at the Irish
Centre for Human rights at the University of
Galway. Amanie previously worked with theWorld Bank as a legal consultant focusing on
the socio-economic inclusion of women withdisabilities, and currently researching on womenand girls with disabilities in Palestine.
Join Rafeef and Amanie in conversation with
Sarah Clancy.
29

The Stinging Fly Podcast with
Caoilinn Hughes
Caoilinn Hughes joins Nicole
Flattery for a special live edition of
The Stinging Fly podcast, to discuss
her new novel The Alternatives.
The story of four brilliant Irish
sisters, orphaned in childhood,
who scramble to reconnect when
the oldest disappears into the Irish
countryside.
Warm, fiercely witty, andunexpectedly hopeful, this novelis an unforgettable portrait of afamily perched on our collective
precipice.
Town Hall Theatre
Sun 28 Apr 13:00 €10/12 60 mins
Story Tellers: Oein DeBhairduin and Richard O’Leary
Come along for this bilingual storytelling event with Oein DeBhairduin
and Richard O’Leary.
Oein DeBhairduin is a writer, activist and educator with a passion forpreserving the beauty of Traveller tales, sayings, retellings and historicexchanges. His works include Twiggy Woman and Why The Moon Travels,
which are rooted in the oral tradition of the Irish Traveller community.
Richard O’Leary is the homoseanchaí, featured in the ‘The Druthaib’s Ball’by Turner Prize winners Array Collective. ‘Teenage Rebel in the GPO 1983’ is atale of vast sums of money, paper trails and telephone calls. An incredible
story, like an Irish fairy tale, but true. Told in Irish with some English.
Éist le Risteard Ó Laoghaire agus é ag caint faoin éirí amach in Ard-Oifig
an Phoist i 1983. Scéal faoi shuimeanna móra airgid, rianta páipéir agus
ghlaonna gutháin. Scéal na rún oifigiúil agus faoin ngrá faoi cheilt.
Scéal dochreidte, cosúil le síscéal Éireannach, ach is fíorscéal atá ann. Is
homoseanchaí é Risteard Ó Laoghaire a bhí le feiceáil sa ‘Druthaib’s Ball’ leis
an Array Collective a bhuaigh Duais Turner i 2021. I nGaeilge le roinnt Béarla.

Into the Witchwood
Children’s Event
Growing up in Loughrea, County
Galway, Méabh McDonnell has
always loved nature and folklore
and the mysterious ways theyintertwine. During lockdown her
daily walks through Kylebrack
Forest got her wondering if anyone
or anything was watching her –perhaps a Witch? And so Into the
Witchwood was born. Join Méabhfor this interactive event.
Supported by The Community
Foundation
The Mick Lally Theatre
Sun 28 Apr 14:00 FREE TICKETED

An Taibhdhearc Sun 28 Apr 11:30 €10/12 60 mins
30

45 mins
31

The Short Story: Mary Costello andTom Morris

Debut Novels: Nicola Dinan and
K PatrickJoin us for a conversation between
two of the most celebrated shortstory writers in Ireland today. In
Barcelona, Mary Costello, offers
glimpses of characters as they
approach moments of desperation- or revelation - that change andreshape fate.

K Patrick’s Mrs S is a sensual tale ofqueer love that paints a revelatory
portrait of the butch experience- exploring the contested terrainof our bodies, our desires and theconstraints society places around
both.

Open Up, by Thomas Morris, aGranta Best Young Novelist 2023, isbursting with emotional depth as
the stories seek to find grace, hopeand benevolence in the churning
tumult of self-discovery.

Nicola Dinan’s Bellies is a thoughtful
and deeply moving portrayal ofqueer love. From London, to Kuala
Lumpur, New York to Cologne, we
follow Tom and Ming as they faceshifts in their relationship as Ming
transitions.

An Taibhdhearc

The Mick Lally Theatre

Sun 28 Apr 14:30 €8/10 60 mins

Sun 28 Apr 17:00 €8/10 60 mins

Edel Coffey: In Her Place

Homeplace: Katriona O’Sullivan
and Kieran Yates

Edel Coffey’s latest novel, In Her
Place, is a captivating thriller.
After devoting years to hermother’s care and in a bid toescape her grief, Ann finds herself
in a bar upstate, wanting to findsome fun. Justin, grieving for his
wife who is in a coma, is looking
for some fun as well.

Join Edel in conversation with
Ali Waktins.

The notion of ‘home’ is at the very
heart of the Irish psyche. How do
we meet this current moment ofcrisis with compassion, practicality,
and resources? Join Kieran Yates,
author of All the Houses I’ve Ever
Lived In, and Katriona O’Sullivan,
author of Poor, (Biography of theYear and Listeners Choice Award,
Irish Book Awards) as they discuss,with Sarah Clancy, what homemeans to them, how they approach
writing social commentary, memoir,
journalism and stories, and what
they’ve learned along the way.

Town Hall Theatre

An Taibhdhearc

Sun 28 Apr 16:00 €14/16 60 mins

Sun 28 Apr 18:00 €10/12 60 mins

This novel gets right to the heartof relationships, and what we might
do to keep them.

32

33

Additional Events
The Whole Wild World Bus Tour: Laureate na nÓg
and Friends
Laureate na nÓg Patricia Forde is bringing
a bus full of children’s writers and illustratorsfrom Malin Head to Mizen Head, working
with young readers to imagine new worlds
in words and pictures. Be a part of the adventure
and join them for this interactive storytelling
event.

An Taibhdhearc
Sat 20 Apr 14:00
Free ticketed
60-90 mins

#ProperBook: Making It Up as We Go Along
Have you ever dreamed of writing or illustrating
for children? This event is for you! Curated by
Sarah Webb, this is a practical, informative
event for children’s authors and illustrators at
every stage of their career. Booking throughchildrenslaureate.ie

Poetry Reading: Susannah Dickey, Elaine Feeney,
Rita Ann Higgins and Jackie Kay
We are delighted to welcome four brilliant
poets to the stage for the final event of Cúirt
2024. These are poets with artistic vision, humour,
warmth and tremendous imaginative range,
who each treat poetry as a space of social
commentary, and as a deeply personal, profoundcelebration of the self.
Rita Ann Higgins and Elaine Feeney’s poetry isrooted on the west coast of Ireland - two of
Galway’s most celebrated poets, their work
demonstrates the strong, wry and confessional
tradition at play here.
Susannah Dickey’s ISDAL, shortlisted for the
Forward Prize for First Collection, is witty andformally ingenious, marking the arrival of athrilling talent in contemporary poetry.
May Day is the long-awaited new collection
from Scottish poet, and former Maker, Jackie Kay.
It casts an eye over decades of political activism
with poems of grief and profound change, lightof love and celebration.
34

Town Hall Theatre
Sun 28 Apr 19:30€16/20 60 mins

Presented inassociation withPoetry Ireland

An Taibhdhearc
Sat 20 Apr 18:30€20/25 120 mins

Exhibition: ‘A Deep Well of Want’: Photographs
and Archives of McGahern Country
This exhibition presents a visual anddocumentary journey through John McGahern
Country - to the sites, places, and lives thatformed a wellspring for the literary imaginationof John McGahern. Featuring photographs byPaul Butler and archival material from the John
McGahern Archive, held at University of Galway
Library, curated by Dr. Barry Houlihan.

Hardiman Building
University of Galway
24 Apr - 17 May
9am - 8pm Mon - Fri
9am - 5pm Sat & Sun

Cúirt Book Club Online
Join Cúirt online with Tara McEvoy to celebrate
two recent short story collections published by
two of our most celebrated Irish independentpresses. On Tuesday Mary O’Donoghue will
discuss her book The Hour After Happy Hour,
published by The Stinging Fly. And on Wednesday
Maggie Armstrong will discuss her book Old
Romantics, published by Tramp Press.

onlineTue 23 / Wed 24 18:30
Free ticketed 60 mins

35

Faber & Cúirt Workshops 2024&

Cúirt is delighted to bring Faber Academy to Galway
for the first time in 2024 to offer you a full programme ofworkshops throughout the festival week.
Faber Academy provides writing courses (in London,
Newcastle and online), manuscript assessments andmentoring programmes across a wide range of
disciplines including fiction, poetry and memoir. They
ran their first course in 2008, and since then have goneon to see their alumni secure major publication deals,
win awards and begin their writing careers. Their tutors,
mentors and manuscript readers are celebrated,
professional authors and editors, and their courses aredesigned with the help of pedagogical experts – but
first and foremost, Faber Academy is a place for people
who are passionate about writing to work together.
Our partnership with Faber Academy will offer a spacefor writers to explore new ideas, take creative risks, andexperiment with genre and style. Engaging with otherwriters and receiving feedback and encouragement isa key part of creative development, which is why we’re
excited to offer these workshops as a valuable resource
for any writer.
With access to resources, tools, and tips we hopethese workshops will help you to navigate the writing
and publishing process more effectively.
Places are limited so early booking is advised.

36

Faber & Cúirt Workshops 2024 I Poetry
Sacha White: Making Poems from History
Join this workshop with Sacha White to explore thepossibilities of combining historical source
material with your own writing. Drawing on documents
and records, archives and even oral histories, youwill experiment with form and voice to create uniquepoems that simultaneously reach into the past andtowards the future.
Wed 24 Apr O’Donoghue Centre 10:00 - 13:00 FREE Ticketed
Daljit Nagra: Innovating the Lyric
In this fun and friendly session we’ll explore someways that poetry can push at the boundaries of the
lyric tradition while remaining immediate. Participants
will be inspired to attempt new poems in various
styles and there will be opportunity for the wholegroup and breakout group discussion.
Wed 24 Apr ONLINE - Faber Academy 10:00 -13:00 €45
Brenda Shaughnessy: Deflections, Deceptions,and Misunderstandings
Poets create ways to express what’s too difficult to
say in other words. We’ll read poems that make useof inaccuracies, lies, misconceptions, and confusion
in order to lay bare what emotional realities those
deceptions hide. There will be a short section of
in-class generative writing.
Thurs 25 Apr O’Donoghue Centre 11:00 - 14:00 €65
Rafeef Ziadah: Poetry and Resistance
Join poet Rafeef Ziadah in her spoken word workshop
where she delves into the artistry of Palestinian
resistance poetry. In this practical workshop, explore
storytelling in poems, play with pace and musicality,and boost your stage performance skills.
Engage in a dynamic session that brings resistancepoetry to life.
Sat 27 Apr O’Donoghue Centre 16:00 - 18:00 €65

37

Faber & Cúirt Workshops 2024 I Fiction I Young People

38

Faber & Cúirt Workshops 2024 I Non Fiction

Una Mannion: Editing Fiction: Improving Your Draft
This three day workshop will help writers develop
a draft, learn to self-edit and provide valuable
feedback. Each day we will look at specific techniquesand examples, and do in-class exercises, focusing on
the scene as a microcosm of the larger work and as
a vehicle to explore narrative techniques. Participants
will submit work in advance.

Joey Connolly: Developing as a Writer
An informal Q&A with Joey Connolly, Director of
Faber Academy.
Come along with any questions you have aboutdeveloping as a writer, writing courses or mentoring,approaching agents or finding a publisher.

25/26/27 Apr O’Donoghue Centre 10:00 - 13:00 €245

Wed 24 Apr O’Donoghue Centre 12:00 - 13:00 FREE Ticketed

Lucy Caldwell: Having Fun with FormIn this high-octane workshop we’ll look at how
the short story can play with unusual and virtuosic
techniques – such as second person or choral
narrators, being told backwards or in the future tense– and a host of other exciting forms, to leave you
inspired and ready to experiment.

Richard Skinner: Life-writing Masterclass
How do we write about a life? From bestsellers by
doctors and lawyers to Norwegian experiments in
autofiction, the genre of life writing is bigger andbroader than ever. Join Richard Skinner to look at
the many and diverse ways you can write about
your own life or other people’s.

Wed 24 Apr O’Donoghue Centre 14:00 - 17:00 €65

Fri 26 Apr ONLINE - Faber Academy 10:00 - 13:00 €45

Thomas Morris: The Short Story: Editing and RevisingYour Own WorkIn this workshop we’ll look at how to edit and revise
short stories, and think about how to make space toreflect on - and explore - how to take our stories to thenext level. With readings and in-class exercises, we’ll
reframe and rethink what and how we write.

Molly Hennigan: Finding your Voice
Explore the history of family narratives, national
and personal histories, and grapple with your own
relationship with writing the self. In this workshop
we will interrogate different non-fiction labels, frommemoir to biography, life-writing to essays, to findwhich ones we are more comfortable with anddevelop writing a personal narrative.

Sat 27 Apr O’Donoghue Centre 14:00 - 17:00 €65

Fri 26 Apr O’Donoghue Centre 11:00 - 14:00 €65

Young People
Leon Diop and Brianna Fitzsimmons: Black & Irish
Leon and Briana, authors of Black & Irish will lead aworkshop in which they look at shaping biographies.
They will take the group through how to ask questions
that will provide an insight into people’s stories, how toactively listen, and how to draw out the narrative into
sparkling text. Supported by The Community Foundation

Softening Corners, a gathering at Cúirt with curator
Cecelia Graham and artist Jennie Moran
Softening Corners is a gathering that expands on theidea of hospitality within creative practice. Together,
we will seek tools that establish shared connections
and co-creation, playfully examining the notion ofreciprocity, and the risk-taking involved in assuming
the role of host.

Sat 27 Apr O’Donoghue Centre 11:00 - 13:00 FREE Ticketed

Sun 28 Apr Engage Studios 14:00 - 17:00 FREE Ticketed

39

Access Statements Cúirt
Town Hall Theatre
The main auditorium is step free with accessible seating andaccessible toilet facilities. Please let the box office know of any
requirements so that they can assist with seating. There are twoaccessible parking spaces on Waterside immediately by thevenue and a further two spaces on Corrib Terrace. There is a
Loop System in every auditorium. There is a Fresh Air Distribution
System. All events at the Town Hall Theatre will be captioned.
The Mick Lally Theatre
The auditorium, bar and foyer are step free with accessible toilet
facilities. There is one accessible parking space on Middle Street
outside the Cornstore, and three spaces on Saint Augustine
Street opposite Galway City Library, five minutes from the venue.
There is no Loop system. HEPA filter will be in use.
An Taibhdhearc
The main auditorium is step free, and there are accessible
toilet facilities. There are two accessible parking spaces either
end of Middle Street and three spaces on Saint Augustine Street
opposite. There is a Loop system. HEPA filter will be in use.
O’Donoghue Centre
Step free venue with accessible toilet facilities. Accessible
parking is located on campus in front of the Quadrangle Building
four minutes from the venue. There is no Loop system. HEPA filter
will be in use for workshop spaces.
Galway University Hospital
Step free venue with accessible bathroom available.
Accessible parking available on the hospital grounds. There is
no Loop system.
Pálás
Step free venue with accessible toilet facilities located at -2
level. Each screen has wheelchair accessible seats, at the backroom of each screen. A complimentary carer seat is provided
with these seats. Three accessible parking spots on Saint
Augustine Street opposite Galway City Library, four minutes fromthe venue. There is a Loop system in every screen.

40

University Library
A step free venue with accessible toilet facilities. Accessible
parking is located on campus in front of the Quadrangle Building
four minutes from the venue. There is no Loop system.
Hardiman Hotel - Oyster Bar and MacNeill’s Pub (basement pub)The ground floor is step free via the main entrance via a ramp
and a double door with a small ramp. There are accessible toilet
facilities on the ground floor.
The Oyster Bar is step free via a double door with a small ramp.
There are accessible toilet facilities on this level.
MacNeill’s Pub is step free from the internal entrance. This isaccessed from the lobby to the lower floor, through a door, downa ramp and through another door. There are no accessible toilet
facilities on this level.
There are four accessible parking spaces on Eyre Square outside
the Bank of Ireland, 5 minutes from the venue at the opposite endof Eyre Square. There is no Loop system. HEPA filter will be in use.
Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop
The Cornstore entrances are step free but have limited
wheelchair access due to the width of the doors. The venue hasinternal steps with limited space to navigate with certain mobility
aids. The street entrance has a step. There is one accessible
parking space on Middle Street immediately outside, and threespaces on Saint Augustine Street. There are no accessible publicbathrooms. There is no Loop system.
Engage Studios
The venue is step free, with a ramp at the entrance. The entrance
is narrow and would limit access for wheelchairs and somemobility aids. There are no accessible bathroom facilities. There
are accessible parking spaces on The Crescent, 7 minutes fromthe venue. There is no Loop system. HEPA filter will be in use.
If you have any access enquiries about a venue or event pleaseemail Aisling at aisling@cuirt.ie or call 091 - 565886 (ask for the
Cúirt Office).

41

About Miriam de Búrca
Miriam de Búrca studied Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art andthe Ulster University, Belfast where she received an Award of
Excellence for a practice-based PhD in 2010. She is represented
by the Cristea Roberts Gallery, London. She lives and works in
Galway, Ireland.

The Story of Cúirt
In 1985 Cúirt was founded by Galway Arts Centre as a three-day poetry festival, and has since grown to the week-longfestival that it is today, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry,
events for all ages, and community-focused activities.
As one of Europe’s oldest book festivals, Cúirt is a leading
voice for literature both internationally and across Ireland.
We are committed to creating a space where all audiences
are empowered through literature, bringing readers andwriters together to tell stories, share new perspectives, andto celebrate writing, books, and reading in all its forms.
In 2025 Cúirt turns 40, and we’re planning some exciting
events to celebrate. Keep up to date by signing up to our
newsletter and following us on our social media platforms.
Our posters have represented many talented and uniqueartists and illustrators over the years as you can see from theselection above. This year we’re delighted to have artworkby Miriam de Búrca. Miriam will have her first Galway solo
exhibition in Galway Arts Centre 15 July- 26 August, curated
by the centre’s director, Megs Morley.

42

The artwork we have chosen for the 2024 festival is from a seriesof deBúrca’s work titled Cillíní. Of this work, Miriam has said: Cillíní
were unofficial burial grounds dotted throughout Ireland, used forinterring unbaptised babies and others ‘considered unsuitable’
for consecrated ground. The physical manifestation of thesesites echo the dark recesses of the human psyche; parts of ourindividual and collective selves which we would prefer to keepout of the light, away from scrutiny. But if you do start to look,you begin to realise that they are everywhere: in the corners offamiliar fields, on hilltops, in bogs and forests, on cliff edges, on
the outskirts of towns, by the side of the road, under car parks
and in suburban gardens.
The Galway Arts Centre
Founded in 1982, Galway Arts Centre is dedicated to providing
year-round access to the arts in an inclusive, welcoming space.
Galway Arts Centre is committed to connecting audiences to
exceptional artists that inspire new ideas and ways of seeing
the world with a contemporary arts programme that reflects
the complexity and diversity of Irish society. Cúirt International
Festival of Literature is proud to be part of the Galway Arts Centre.
12 April - 24 May features a new solo exhibition draft fissure by
Martina O’Brien. Highly surveilled and persistently unknowable,
extraordinarily biodiverse and increasingly precarious, the deep
ocean is a space of paradoxes. Drawing on O’Brien’s time on
two marine expeditions in the Atlantic Ocean and Galway Bay
along with archives of Irish scientific work that has sought tomap, understand, and vision these marine ecosystems, draft
fissure brings together a range of media, including sound andvisual installations, to reorient extractive imaginaries of ocean
ecosystems, and attune to networked oceanic knowledges andcommunities – and their unfathomable elements – amongst
the unfolding of climatological emergency. For more information,
visit galwayartscentre.ie
43

WELCOMETO THE HARDIMANLUXURYACCO M M O DAT I O N

WEDDINGSThe Hardiman is an iconic
landmark, perfectly positioned
overlooking Eyre Square, in theheart of Galway City. A hotel
steeped in history and romance,with a warmth of character that’s
woven into its very walls, thisGrand Old Lady is the epitomeof effortless charm and timelesselegance.

All of our 103 guest rooms, including 19
luxury suites, combine authentic, immersive
historical character with exceptionalmodern comfort.

For over a century and a half, this Grand
Old Lady has played host to so many
special occasions. It’s a spectacularsetting for an unforgettable day.

Our rooms in the Main House boast
charming traditional décorative touches,reflecting our rich history and heritage.
The design takes full advantage of thehigh Victorian ceilings and impossibly tallwindows. Rooms in our newer wing aredecorated in restful, natural colours
and textures.

Your dream wedding may be an intimate,candle-lit dinner with close family, or anopulent ball, surrounded by everyone
you know and love. Perhaps it might besomething in between. Whatever you areplanning, it would be our great privilege
to help you bring that dream to life.

Part of the fabric of Galway since1852, The Hardiman has played
host to many notable guests
and countless special occasions,offering generous hospitality with afamiliar, easy charm that makes ourguests feel right at home.

We know that every moment is precious.
We’re here to make sure that each one
is as perfect. Every member of our teamis devoted to ensuring that you and yourguests have the best day imaginable.

T H E T R E AT M E N T RO O MSThis beautiful, intimate space comprises
a superb outdoor Canadian hot tub, indoor
jacuzzi, plus a sauna and steam room.
It’s the perfect place to relax, unwind andre-energise, while stimulating the senses
from top to toe.
Our team of qualified beauty therapists canassess your wellbeing needs and help you
choose the perfect treatment from a menu,
including mud or seaweed body wraps &baths, indulgent massages and a range offacials. The Fitness Centre at The Hardimanis available to residents and guests, with
exercise machines, interactive training
programmes and motivational activities.

+353 (0)91 564 041 info@thehardiman.ie thehardiman.ieCosy, all-wood pub with foodfrom a stylish restaurant upstairs,
open fireplaces & live music

17 Cross Street, Galway City
(091) 568 820
www.tighneachtain.com

Right Price Ink
Toner-Inkjet-Office-Print

14-16 Churchyard Street,
Galway City, Co. Galway

cheese & food shop
winebar & shop

Printing Photocopying
Scan Binding
Office Supplies Stationery
Furniture Printers
Inkjet & Toner Cartridges
SHOP ONLINE OR INSTORE

091 563000
www.rightpriceink.ie

GREAT STORIES START
when you pick up a bottle of MICIL

for more locations or
to shop online visit:
sheridanscheesemongers.com

VISIT US:
44 Dominick St. Lwr,
Galway, H91 WKV9Bookseller

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Right Price Ink
Toner-Inkjet-Office-Print

RTÉ supports more than
150 arts events nationwide
every year.
rte.ie/about/supportingthearts

Travel Partner

Cúirt International Festival of Literature
23-28 April 2024
cuirt.ie I #cuirt2024 I @cuirtfestival