Our fate is inextricably linked to the environment.
We must stop seeing ourselves as somehow
above or separate from it

Pierre Rabhi

Dear public, dear friends,

Thanks to your unwavering support, the Franco-Irish Literary Festival has continued year-on-year to make its mark in Dublin. Having reached the age of 21 – some of our French friends may not know that this is considered a milestone birthday in Ireland – the Festival enters a new decade with confidence, and we warmly invite you all to join us at our 2021 event. In fact, we will be bringing you the 2020 edition as we did not have the chance last year as a result of the health Crisis.

Since its foundation, Alliance Française Dublin and the French Embassy have jointly organised the Festival in pursuit of the same objective: to develop and strengthen links between Ireland and France. The Festival thus offers the public an opportunity to discover contemporary Irish and French literature, and provides a showcase for the authors taking part. It also fosters the creation of links between all those involved in the literary sector in the broader sense, including writers, publishers and translators.

Continuing the tradition of encounters and exchanges, the 2021 edition will offer the chance to engage in a convivial setting, with Irish and French-speaking authors in the form of round tables, discussions and readings, scheduled over the course of two days. On the other hand, it will unfortunately not be possible this year to interact with the writers and so there will be no signing of books.

This year, discussions will focus on new ecological and environmental approaches in literature. Together we will reflect on the climate emergency and its dramatic consequences for the most vulnerable populations, a society more conscious of animal rights and the increasingly rapid disappearance of biodiversity threatening the survival of humankind. These themes, alongside others which – at first glance – may seem less directly related, will be addressed by the Irish and French-speaking writers invited to participate. These exchanges will feed into the reflections being undertaken not just collectively but by each and every one of us, in a context of growing awareness and resistance, but also denial and surprisingly retrograde steps taken by some of those in power.

We owe the success of the Festival and its development over the last twenty years to the writers, artists and loyal public who have made it all possible, as well as the many partners and sponsors who support us and whose wonderful generosity we gratefully acknowledge. We wish to thank the Arts Council, Literature Ireland, DCU, Maynooth University, Trinity College, UCD, University of Limerick and a number of French and Irish businesses, with very special mentions to the French laboratories Servier Monde and to Dublin Castle, whose support has been unwavering since the very first year of our event. We are also grateful to the Association Internationale des Études Québécoises and the Québec Government Office in London, which for several years have made it possible for us to invite guests from the other side of the Atlantic, as well as the press and media of all kinds that promote the Festival, which has become such a cultural highlight in Dublin, UNESCO City of Literature.

We look forward to seeing you all on 15, 16 and 17 April!

 
 
 
 

Mariam Diallo
Cultural Counsellor
French Embassy in Ireland

Thierry Lagnau
Director
Alliance Française Dublin

 

 

 
 
       

 

               
       
                 
   
2021
Guests