Derry Girls star for Dromineer Nenagh Literary Festival

Her role as the fast talking nun in the Channel 4 series Derry Girls has earned her legions of fans, and now Siobhan MacSweeney will step out from the camera to perform one of her own short stories as part of an exciting line up for the 2019 Dromineer Nenagh Literary Festival.

London based McSweeney is one of a handful of writers, poets and scribes performing as part of this year's festival taking place from October 3 to 8.

The Cork born actress is part of a line up, including Jane Clarke and Donal Ryan, taking part in The Ordinary Made New at Nenagh Arts Centre on Saturday, October 5 from 8pm to 9.30pm. Tickets cost €13 and the event will be chaired by Edel Coffey.

A busy weekend of workshops, readings, café trails, discussions, walking tours, and the very special literary event on the lake is ahead for the people of Nenagh and Dromineer as the county’s only dedicated Literary Festival finally begins.

Audiences can enjoy the company of a list of well-known authors, including Donal Ryan and Joseph O’Connor, while aspiring authors can take on workshops in fiction and poetry.

Children’s and transition year workshops are also available for the younger audience with the results of the school’s poetry competition being announced on Sunday.

The festival brings more events to the town, in response to growing demand, with a Saturday morning café trail in Cinnamon Alley and Deborah’s Café, and a historical walking tour led by Kevin Whelan on Saturday evening. Venues such as the Heritage Centre and the Castle will host events with the Arts Centre being the main venue for much of the town-based programme.

For the second year, the Festival hosts a writer in residence. John W. Sexton is a writer of poetry, short stories, radio drama and novels for adults and children. He has been using his experience as a radio playwright, poet and workshop facilitator to lead participants “from life to story to performance” via the written word.

He has worked with local people gathering stories and turning them into performance pieces to be premiered on Saturday, October 5 at Lough Derg Yacht Club.

Writers John Boyne, Rosita Boland, Niamh Boyce and Anne Griffin join an impressive list of poets to grace the venues of Nenagh and Dromineer. Among them are Grace Willenz, Jackie Gorman, Geraldine Mitchell, Jane Clarke, Moya Roddy, Siobhán McMahon and local woman Eleanor Hooker.

The Committee of the Dromineer Nenagh Literary Festival would like to thank the Arts Office of Tipperary County Council for their unstinting support for the Festival, and to the staff of Nenagh Arts Centre and the many other venues being used for the Festival this year.

Thanks to this support, the festival is growing in range and popularity to become the kind of event which the county can be proud of.

Full details of the festival programme and details on how to book are on www.dnlf.ie