Waterford Writers Weekend

Megan Nolan, Séamas O’Reilly, Sophie White, Rónán Hession and more set for live events at Waterford Writers Weekend

The Imagine Arts Festival which will take, place at venues across Waterford City this October 15^th to 24^th 2021 has unveiled a broad programme for the Waterford Writers Weekend, an integral part of the annual Imagine Arts Festival.

The Waterford Writers Weekend opens on Thursday, October 21st and runs for four days with a variety of online and live-audience events on offer to festivalgoers. From workshops, masterclasses and readings, to poetry events, author interviews and discussions with some of the country’s foremost writers. A not to be missed weekend for writers and readers alike.

Some of the highlights across the weekend include a reading with Waterford native and one of 2021’s most celebrated debuts, Megan Nolan who will read from Acts of Desperation and speak about the process of writing her second novel. Writer and podcaster Sophie White will speak about her bestselling essay collection, Corpsing: My Body and Other Horror Shows. The Observer columnist Séamas O’Reilly will be discussing his memoir ‘Did Ye Hear Mammy Died’ and the author of Leonard and Hungry Paul Rónán Hession will be discussing his latest release Panenka.

In addition, Deirdre O’Sullivan will talk about her new book Precious Catastrophe, the compelling and darkly magical sequel to Perfectly Preventable Deaths. Audiences will also have the opportunity to join Nell Regan in the beautiful surroundings of Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens in Tramore where she’ll talk about A Gap in the Clouds: A New Translation of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, this classic anthology of ‘tiny, beautiful’ Japanese poems. Colm Keegan will judge the Waterford Poetry Prize and the final Writers Weekend event is a tribute to the city by award-winning Waterford poet Clodagh Beresford Dunne.

For those interested in spoken word rapper Nealo will talk about his career, process and what inspires him. For children, Niamh Sharkey and Owen Churcher will host A Field Guide to Leaflings and for schools, an opportunity to explore more about haiku poetry is on offer.

The Waterford Writer’s Weekend forms a major element of the annual Imagine Arts Festival and ensures the Imagine festival offers a leading literary offering as part of the overall festival. In addition to literary events, there are art exhibitions, an Arts Trail and Art Shop featuring 10 different artists and art workshops. There is also a host of live music gigs with Aoife Nessa Frances, Junior Brother, Rapper Nealo, Carrie Baxter, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin and Tonos. Live comedy with Colm O’Regan and Sean Murphy plus Theatre events including Spliced a Timmy Creed Production, Sylvan from Tinderbox Theatre Company, and Marbleface, which was the winner of last year’s Imaginings competition which was hosted to identify and commission new artworks and lots more.

The Imagine Arts Festival will take place online and in-person in Waterford this October 15^th to 24^th, further details and tickets can be found at www.Imagineartsfestival.com

@Imagine_Fest

#Imagine2021

The Waterford Writers Weekend opens on Thursday, October 21st and runs for three days with a variety of online and live-audience events on offer to festivalgoers. From workshops, masterclasses and readings to poetry events, author interviews and discussions with some of the country’s foremost writers. A not to be missed weekend for writers and readers alike. The event is part of the 20^th annual Imagine Arts Festival which will take place in Waterford from October 15^th to 24^th – see www.Imagineartsfestival.com Photo: Patrick Browne.