Author Jan Carson will be in conversation with some of Ireland’s most exciting emerging authors. The Red Bird Sings (Virago) by Aoife Fitzpatrick is a searing feminist historical Gothic fiction that confronts urgent issues of the present day. Catfish Rolling (Head of Zeus) by Clara Kumagai is a story that blends magic-realism with Japanese myth and legend. Perpetual Comedown (New Island) by Declan Toohey is a contemporary yarn of academic intrigue and youthful irreverence, sexual fluidity and neurodiversity.

In this special panel event, novelist and commissioning editor Olivia Fitzsimons is joined by award-winning authors Sheila Armstrong, Jan Carson and Sheena Patel to talk about their contributions to This So-Called Writing Life, an online essay series published throughout the year on stingingfly.org. The writers will discuss the highs and lows they’ve experienced while developing their creative practice, exploring topics such as protecting mental health, advancing self-care, building friendships and accessing community support networks.

Join Dublin Book Festival at Solas Nua, in association with Culture Ireland, for writer
Jan Carson in conversation with poet Connie Voisine.

How do we remember books we read in the past? How do fictional depictions of real-world events and places – whether domestic spaces or the streets of Belfast – affect our own memories and how we talk about them?

Dublin Book Festival, in partnership with Belfast Book Festival, presents this intriguing discussion on mixing myth and reality.