There is often more anguish in anticipating pleasure that in suffering sadness - Colette

The Franco-Irish Literary Festival is thirteen years old. Who could have predicted such longevity for the modest gathering of authors from two different cultures but sharing the same love of literature?

It is an immense pleasure to find you here again for this new edition of the Franco-Irish Literary Festival. Thanks to your enthusiasm and to your loyalty since its creation, the festival has the privilege of continuing to honour the nomination of Dublin, as a UNESCO City of Literature.

This year, the festival has pleasure as its subject. For Seneca, whoever manages to tap into himself is, per se, an object of pleasure. This pleasure, which is one of "pleasing oneself", is not prompted by anything extraneous to us; "it derives from us and is within us" as Michel Foucault specifies. According to Jacques Derrida: "Pleasure only derives from mourning, from enjoyment as mourning. Not from just any mourning and from any memory of death, but from mourning itself." Between these two sources of pleasure - life, death, the self or the mourning of self - is the space for literature, all literature.

We owe this rich and original programme to our Steering Committee which again this year, has redoubled its efforts to make this event unique, whose principal idea is to reduce the distances between the author and the reader.

Wonderful encounters are once more offered to arouse your interest: discussions, readings, cafés littéraires, dedications, this edition does not depart from tradition.

Organised jointly by the Alliance Française in Dublin and the Embassy of France in Ireland, the festival also owes its success to the support of its loyal partners. We warmly thank our sponsors, The Ireland Fund of France, The Arts Council, Foras Na Gaeilge, Culture Ireland / Cultúr Éireann, Poetry Ireland, the Irish Writers' Centre, Ireland Literature Exchange, the relevant French and Irish companies and the media (in particular RTE lyric fm), which contribute significantly to the festival's success.

Together, with the writers who honour us with their presence, we will celebrate the passion of writing and reading.

A very big thank you to you all!