• Donal Ryan – 22 May

    The Bloomsbury Hotel The Bloomsbury Hotel, 16-22 Great Russell Street, London, United Kingdom

    The novelist Donal Ryan joins Dorothy Allen to discuss his latest novel, All We Shall Know. Ryan's award-winning debut, The Spinning Heart, was published to great acclaim in 2012: it won the Guardian First Book Award, the European Union Prize for Literature, and Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. The Thing About December and his short story ...

  • Writing Gay Irish Lives – 30 Oct

    The Bloomsbury Hotel The Bloomsbury Hotel, 16-22 Great Russell Street, London, United Kingdom

    In light of social and legal changes in Ireland over recent years the ILS is drawing together Irish writers to consider the representation of queer people in Irish literature. Our panel will be reflecting on London as a place of escape, queer representation in Irish writing, homosexuality in the discourse of what constitutes Irishness, and the integration of queer characters ...

  • Jews in Irish Literature – 19 Feb

    The Bloomsbury Hotel The Bloomsbury Hotel, 16-22 Great Russell Street, London, United Kingdom

    The Irish Literary Society is engaging with writers and academics to reflect on 'Representations of Jews in Irish Literature'. The innovative research project of the same title was developed out of NUI Galway and Ulster University and forms the centre of tonight's event. The main objective of the project is to analyse representations of Jews in Irish literature from the ...

  • Troubling the Classics – 29 Oct

    The Bloomsbury Hotel 16-22 Great Russell St, London, United Kingdom

    For our October event we're bringing together a poet, a novelist and a dramatist to reflect on their work and its place in a rich seam of Irish literature inspired by the Greeks. The continuing interest of Irish writers in Greek and Latin classical literature as a model and source for inspiration is somewhat surprising given the almost complete disappearance of ...

    £8
  • The Female Detective – 27 Jan

    The Bloomsbury Hotel The Bloomsbury Hotel, 16-22 Great Russell Street, London, United Kingdom

    As we approach St Brigid's Day we are delighted to welcome an all-female panel to an event considering the continuing popularity of Irish crime writing, so-called "Emerald Noir". Our guests will read from their work, reflect on their portrayal of female detectives and as all three are UK-based we'll consider their London and Dublin settings. In Maeve Kerrigan (Casey), Bridie ...

    £8
  • Christine Dwyer Hickey – POSTPONED

    Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith 5 Black’s Road Hammersmith, United Kingdom

    THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO CONCERNS ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS. WE WILL LOOK TO RESCHEDULE IN THE COMING MONTHS The Society is delighted to partner with the Dublin City Council for a second year to deliver an event on the Dublin One City One Book choice. This year's choice is Tatty by Christine Dwyer Hickey. Dublin One City One ...

    Free
  • The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne – 7 Dec

    Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith 5 Black’s Road Hammersmith, United Kingdom

    The Brian Moore at 100 Project and the Irish Literary Society present a free screening of The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, an adaptation of Moore's anti-church novel that features an astonishing Maggie Smith in a role regarded as one of her finest. Judith Hearne (Smith) is a middle-aged spinster who’s dedicated her life to the church and caring for ...

    Free
  • ‘Nora’ with Nuala O’Connor – 28 March

    The Bloomsbury Hotel The Bloomsbury Hotel, 16-22 Great Russell Street, London, United Kingdom

    In this centenary year of the publication of Ulysses we are delighted to welcome Nuala O'Connor to the Society to discuss her novel Nora. When Nora Barnacle, a twenty-year-old from Galway working as a maid at Finn’s Hotel, meets young James Joyce on a summer’s day in Dublin, she is instantly attracted to him, natural and daring in his company. ...

    £10.00
  • Jess Kidd and Mike Dash on the Batavia – 27 March

    The Bloomsbury Hotel The Bloomsbury Hotel, 16-22 Great Russell Street, London, United Kingdom

    We're delighted to welcome back Jess Kidd to the Society to discuss her novel, The Night Ship. The novel is based on the extraordinary story of the Batavia, the flagship of the Dutch East India Company that in 1628 was wrecked on Morning Reef, on the Houtman Abrolhos islands off western coast of Australia. Its wrecking was followed by factions ...

    £6.00
  • Rónán Hession – 31 May

    Fitzrovia Chapel Fitzroy Place, 2 Pearson Square, London W1T 3BF, London, United Kingdom

    The Society welcomes back Rónán Hession for the London launch of his latest novel. The author will be discussing Ghost Mountain with the author and TLS critic David Collard. There will be an audience Q&A followed by a book signing, a glass of wine is included in the ticket price. Ghost Mountain is a mountain that appears suddenly, changing the ...

    £5.00