Words by Water Festival returning to seaside Cork town next month  

The programme has been announced for this year’s Words By Water Kinsale Literary Festival, which is taking place from Thursday, October 2 to Sunday, October 5.

Featured authors include recent Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year winner Niall Williams; historians Diarmaid Ferriter, Peadar Thompson, and Joachim Beug; readers’ favourites Marita Conlon-McKenna, Kit de Waal, and Fíona Scarlett; acclaimed newcomers Catherine Airey, Patrick Holloway, Barbara Leahy, and Louise Hegarty; as well as legal justice campaigner Harriet Wistrich, and social commentators Aoife Barry and Daragh Fleming.

The headline Saturday evening event features Beckett with Gaitkrash, described by the Irish Times as “specialists in sorcery”, offering a montage of Samuel Beckett’s later plays, Footfalls and Not I.

On Friday, Niall Williams will chat to journalist Shane Coleman about his recent novel, Time of the Child.

Local favourites

Local favourites return, with a poetry event on Thursday evening curated by Matthew Geden, and Local Voices on Sunday morning, featuring Afric McGlinchy, Katherine Boucher Beug and Matthew Geden.

Barry Moloney’s Kinsale walking tour for children will place on Saturday afternoon.

Also on Saturday afternoon, Harriet Wistrich, director of the UK Centre for Women’s Justice, will talk about her legal career and Women’s Prize long-listed book, Sister in Law.

In between, Cork writers take centre stage, with Catherine Airey, Barbara Leahy, Louise Hegarty, and Patrick Holloway sharing their experiences of publishing their debut novels.

Events take place at The Lord Kingsale, Methodist Church, Friar’s Lodge, OHK, The Post House, and Prim’s Bookshop.

The full programme is available at https://www.wordsbywater.ie, with all events now open for booking.