Kilkenny Arts Festival box office opens as anticipation mounts for 50th festival

Kilkenny Arts Festival staff and Board members gathered for the opening of the festival box office on John Street ahead of the opening of the 50th edition of Kilkenny Arts Festival.

Running from August 10-20, the festival sees the return of the Architects of Air Luminarium in Kilkenny Castle Parklands, and Light Up The Castle, along with a jam packed programme of music, theatre, visual art, literature and more.

Kilkenny Arts Festival has also now announced details of the literature strand of the 50th edition of the Festival, designed to thrill, delight and inspire.

Highlights include acclaimed journalist Ben Judah (Fragile Empire, This is London, This is Europe) who will deliver the 2023 Hubert Butler Lecture.

Over the last decade, Judah has set out criss-crossing Russia interviewing mobsters and government officials for Fragile Empire, his portrait of Putin’s rise to power.

For his new book, This is Europe, Judah travelle from Ireland to Turkey and back, listening to the stories of ordinary people. The result is an epic work of compassion that reveals a continent transformed by diversity, migration, war, climate change, Covid and the quest for freedom. For this year’s Hubert Butler Lecture, Judah shares his wealth of experiences, asking what it means to call ourselves European today.

The Hubert Butler Essay Prize will also be presented in the Parade Tower alongside an exciting line-up of talks.

Other highlights include conversations between Liz Nugent and Úna Mannion and a special reading from Fergus Cronin, accompanied by acclaimed musician Kevin Doherty.

Liz Nugent and Úna Mannion - In conversation Parade Tower, August 11:
This ‘in conversation’ event features two leading novelists who create unforgettable female voices. Since Liz Nugent appeared at KAF 2014, she’s established herself as one of Ireland’s bestselling writers, winning four Irish Book Awards and the James Joyce Medal for Literature.

Her new novel, Strange Sally Diamond, is a dark and gripping psychological thriller with a remarkable heroine at its core.
Úna Mannion’s debut novel A Crooked Tree, about the consequences of one mother’s decision, was an international bestseller in 2021. Her follow-up, Tell Me What I Am, explores the lives of two women unearthing secrets at the heart of their family. This conversation will be chaired by Declan Burke.

Fergus Cronin with Kevin Doherty, Parade Tower August 13:
Fergus Cronin’s first collection of stories Night Music was greeted with wide acclaim on its publication in April this year.
Donegal singer songwriter Kevin Doherty (also of Four men and a Dog) is renowned for the excellence of his writing and delivery.

Heaney Translations
To mark the 50th anniversary of Seamus Heaney’s first appearance at the festival, Kilkenny Arts Festival will present a series of discussions and readings from some of the poet’s celebrated translations in the Parade Tower, with special guests including Vona Groarke, Mary Clayton and Peter Fallon.

For more information see kilkennyarts.ie