Embassy of Ireland, Stockholm
Irlands Ambassad, Stockholm
Hovslagargatan 5, 12061 Stockholm
Tel:46 -8- 5450 4040E-mail:
PRESS RELEASE
‘Ireland – Land of Literature’ at Gothenburg Book Fair 2012
Under the title ‘Ireland – Land of Literature’, Irish writing will be presented to Nordic audiences this September in a special guest programme at the Gothenburg Book Fair.
A Programme of Readings, Seminars and Concerts
Approximately thirty different events are being arranged to highlight Ireland’s extraordinary literary tradition and showcase some of the best of the country’s contemporary talents. Eight award winning Irish writers will visit the Fair,a blend of established authors and emerging stars that includes Colm Tóibín, John Boyne, Sebastian Barry, Kevin Barry, Paul Murray, Siobhán Parkinson, Éilis Ní Dhuibhne and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Paul Muldoon.
Several of these writers – including Tóibín, Boyne and Muldoon - will present new work in Swedish translation at Gothenburg. New Swedish translations of two old Irish masters – James Joyce and William Butler Yeats – will also be in focus at the Fair, with events considering their enduring importance to world letters.
Ireland, of course, is celebrated for more than just great literature. The nation’s famous hospitality will be evidenced in the hundred thousand welcomes afforded visitors to the ‘Ireland: Land of Literature’ stand at the Fair and, on 27 September, when the Fair will be invited to raise a glass to celebrate Arthur Guinness’s birthday. Meanwhile,a special concert performance by Mary Coughlan, one of the world’s great folk singers, will thrill lovers of Irish music.
Ireland – A Land Shaped by Literature
As Ireland’s President, Michael D. Higgins, himself an acclaimed poet, explains in an essay published in the Book Fair’s catalogue, ‘Ireland is, in a very real sense, a country shaped by literature’.
Scholars and bards were revered in ancient Irish society, where the poet ranked second only to the Chieftain. In modern Ireland, that tradition is reflected in the status afforded great writers, past and present. Ireland’s four Nobel laureates, WB Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney rank amongst the country’s most iconic figures. Other literary giants, including Jonathan Swift, Maria Edgeworth, Oscar Wilde and, of course, James Joyce, are similarly revered, while contemporary writers like Edna O’Brien, Roddy Doyle and Eavan Boland are respected as the country’s most brilliant intellects and eloquent representatives.
In Ireland, as in few other nations on earth, literature is a part of life. Dublin, a city immortalized in Joyce’s Ulysses, was confirmed as a UNESCO World City of Literature in 2009, recognition of the vitality of its literary scene and the brilliance of the writers it continues to be home to. But that vitality is not limited to the nation’s capital. Good writing is celebrated everywhere in Ireland, with scores of literary festivals each year bringing outstanding writers to all corners of the country. This September audiences at Gothenburg have an opportunity to meet eight such outstanding authors, enjoy the warmth of the Irish experience and learn about the land of literature.
ENDS
29 May 2012
Press Contact
Ragnar Almqvist +46 733998960 or +46 8 54504040 or email
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