Celebrating its 21st anniversary this year, Cork World Book Fest 2025 continues to feature readings by renowned writers and translators in diverse settings. Alongside literary readings, it offers a cultural street fair with book stalls, music, and entertainment. Unique in its inclusiveness, the Fest connects readers with both established and emerging authors through various workshops and engaging street activities.
Wednesday 23 April, 5.00pm, City Library
Thursday 24 April, 8.00pm, City Library
The Style in Which it Departed: Aifric Mac Aodha and Daniel Hahn. In conversation with Keith Payne.
Aifric Mac Aodha’s poems, from a ‘lad in a tattoo parlour’ to a ‘woman vet on television,’ amplify what Clíona Ní Ríordáin calls a ‘strong female, feminist voice’ with a keen sense of the unheimlich. Her latest bilingual collection, Old Friends, features longer poems that resonate with the force of aphorisms, integrating old Irish sayings and musical lines like ‘Cuireann an chuimhne, cara an chumha . . .’ David Wheatley’s fluid English verses complement Mac Aodha’s work, embodying Walter Benjamin’s idea of translation as creative echoing.
In the realm of translation, Daniel Hahn stands out with over eighty published works. His translations have garnered prestigious awards like the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award. As a former chair of the Translators Association, he continues to influence literature and free expression with organizations like English PEN. His diary, Catching Fire: A Translation Diary, offers a rare, real-time glimpse into the translation process of Never Did the Fire by Diamela Eltit.
