MADELEINE KEANE, LITERARY EDITOR OF THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT TO LAUNCH FOCAL – WEXFORD LITERARY FESTIVAL TO THE PRESS, ON 7TH APRIL 2016 AT A RECEPTION IN THE NEWLY REFURBISHED ENNISCORTHY ATHENAEUM.
Wexford Literary Festival would like to invite you to our festival launch night, in The Enniscorthy Athenaeum, on 7th April, at 7.30pm. We are delighted to welcome Madeleine Keane to Wexford, to formally launch our festival. All are welcome and there will be a wine reception with a chance to meet some of our festival speakers.
Madeleine Keane was educated at UCD and Trinity. She worked in the editorial departments of Irish Tatler, Image Magazine and the publishing house Chatto & Windus before joining the Sunday Independent in 1988. She has been the Literary Editor of the Sunday Independent for the last 11 years and during that time co-founded the Irish Book Awards and curated two writers’ festivals in Dublin – Books ’08 and Books ‘09.
She also presented a books programme for RTE TV (‘First Edition’) and has written a non-fiction careers guide for teenagers (What Will I Be? Mercier Press 1995). She was a member of the steering committee for the successful Dublin City of Literature Unesco bid. She regularly writes about books, theatre and travel. She has broadcast on tv and radio (The View, Ryan Tubridy, Tonight with Vincent Browne, TV3 Ireland AM, 4FM) about books and publishing and presents at literary festivals and events (Dublin Book Festival, Dalkey Books Festival, The Irish Book Awards etc).
Our third annual literary festival will take place between 27th – 29th May, 2016,
The full programme will be released to the press at the launch on 7th April. We have worked hard over the past couple of years to promote Co. Wexford nationally as a place of literary excellence. Our aim has always been to both honour our existing literary greats and to support aspiring writers on their own creative paths.
The festival will include workshops and panel discussions with some of Ireland’s beloved bestselling authors and industry experts. We will also announce the winners of our Schools Book Trailer Award, The 1916 Poem for Enniscorthy and The Colm Toibin International Short Story Award. Full details of the lineup will be on www.focalliteraryfestival.com. Tickets are available to buy online now
http://www.focalliteraryfestival.com/shop/
Carmel Harrington curator of the Wexford Literary Festival, said: ‘We are excited and honoured that such talented speakers are coming to Co. Wexford. We have worked hard to ensure that our programme appeals to both writers and readers. Our festival has earned a reputation as one of the most friendly and fun events in the literary calendar, where all speakers are accessible. Ultimately, our festival is a celebration of books and writers and this year promises to be our best yet.’