The International Literature Festival Dublin kicks off tomorrow, with lots of events around the city for you to check out. Here are some of the highlights, but it’s worth having a good wander through their programme to see what you can find for yourself. You can find it here…

Highlights –

• Lionel Shriver – Lionel Shriver, author of We Need To Talk About Kevin and known for her wit, style and intelligence, discusses her new novel, The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047, which charts the disintegration of one affluent family as financial crisis engulfs an America of the near future –  Sat 21 May // 8pm – Smock Alley Theatre – Price: €12 / €10
• Chris Kraus – Chris Kraus takes to the stage to talk about her genre-defying book I Love Dick, a startlingly original take on femininity, desire and the epistolary novel that has become a feminist cult classic. – Sat 21 May // 6pm – Smock Alley Theatre – Price: €12 / €10
• Rafeef Ziadah –  Acclaimed Palestinian refugee poet and activist Rafeef Ziadah showcases her album of poetry and songs We Teach Life. – Sun 22 May // 8pm –  The Peacock, Abbey Theatre –  Price: €12 / €10
• Cathy Rentzenbrink & Decca Aitkenhead – UK writer Cathy Rentzenrbrink and international journalist and broadcaster Decca Aitkenhead come together on the same stage to discuss the theme of death and losing a loved one. – Sun 22 May // 2pm –  Smock Alley Theatre –  Price: €10 / €8
• The Big Debate: The Spectre of Global Jihad – Jean Pierre Filiu and Shiraz Maher explore the rise of jihadism across the Middle East. – Mon 23 May // 8pm-  Smock Alley Theatre –  Price: €12 / €10
• Bressie – Bressie discusses his advocacy for mental health and why men find it so hard to ask for help, sporting legend Packie Bonnerdiscusses his autobiography The Last Line. – Mon 23 May // 6pm –  Smock Alley Theatre –  Price: €10 / €8
• Anakana Schofield and Lucy Caldwell – Anakana Schofield and Lucy Caldwell reflect on the renaissance in Irish fiction. – Tue 24 May // 6pm –  Smock Alley Theatre –  Price: €10 / €8
• Yanis Varoufakis  – Yanis Varoufakis discusses his vision for a new Europe. – Fri 27 May // 6pm Liberty Hall Theatre-  Price: €12 / €10
• Margaretta D’Arcy – Margaretta D’Arcy, the Guantanamo Granny, discusses her extraordinary life as an activist. – Sat 28 May // 8pm –  Smock Alley Theatre –  Price: €12 / €10
• AL Kennedy – Novelist, dramatist, short story writer and occasional stand-up comedian, AL Kennedy hosts a workshop for writers beginning to work in prose in the Irish Writers Centre and discusses her award-winning works with Niall MacMonagle again at Smock Alley Theatre. – Sun 29 May // 2.30pm –  Smock Alley Theatre –  Price: €12 / €10

Festival Guide –

May

Bealtaine – All through May

Dublin Dance Festival – May 17th-28th –

International Literature Festival, Dublin – May 21st-29th – Lionel Shriver, Bressie, AL Kennedy and more…

Life – May 27th-29th – Belvedere House and Gardens, in Mullingar – Paul Kalkbrenner. 2ManyDjs. Jamie Jones. Laurent Garnier. Jeff Mills. Hot Since 82. Mano le Tough. Ben Klock. John Talabot

June

Listowel Writers’ Week – June 1st-5th

Vantastival – Fri 3rd – Sat 4th June – Beaulieu House, Drogheda – Badly Drawn Boy, The Hot Sprockets, The Young Folk, Jinx Lennon, Elephant, Sample Answer…

Forbidden Fruit 2016 – Fri 3rd – Sun 5th June – The Royal Hospital, Kilmainham – Tame Impala, Young Fathers, Steve Mason, Mmoths, The Field (Live), Underworld, Flume, Jungle, Kiasmos Live, Battles, Groove Armada and many more…

Cork Midsummer – June 7th-19th, 21st, 24th-26th

Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas – June 10th-12th- Borris House, Carlow – Martin Amis, Chrissie Hynde, Kate Tempest, Michael Chabon, Joseph O’Neill, Lenny Abrahamson, Stephen Frears, Simon Callow, Martin Hayes…

Carlow Arts Festival – June 10th-19th

Bloomsday – June 15th-19th- Dublin

Dublin Pride – June 15th-25th

Body and Soul – 17th – 19th June  – The Gloaming , Santigold, St Germain, Hudson Mohawke, Floating Points (live), Mercury Rev, Neon Indian, BadBadNotGood, Wolf Parade, Sun Kil Moon, Santigold, St. Germain, Mercury Rev, Sun Kil Moon, Wolf Parade

Hay Festival Kells – June 19th-26th – Kells, Meath

Sea Sessions – 24th – 26th June – Bundoran in Donegal – Primal Scream, Tinie Tempah, Ham Sandwich, Bad Manners, Pleasure Beach, Raglans…

Interlude – RHA Gallery & Ely Place – 24 – 26 June 2016 – Lisa Hannigan, Dimitri from Paris, The Sugarhill Gang, Crazy P Soundsystem, Booka Brass Band, Alison Limerick, Billy Scurry, Donal Dineen, David Kitt, exmagician, Ships, Sample Answer

Royal Hospital Kilmainham
Sun 26/06/16 – Sigur Ros with support James Vincent McMorrow
Tue 28/06/16 – Disclosure with support Vince Staples
Thu 30/06/16 – Stereophonics, The Vaccines

July

Royal Hospital Kilmainham
Sat 2/07/16 – Faithless, Le Galaxie

Dublin City Block Party – Sat 2nd & Sun 3rd July – Dusky, Matthew Herbert, Todd Terje (Full Band), Kelis

Groove – Sat 2nd & Sun 3rd July – Killruddery House, Bray, Co Wicklow – The Academic,  The 4 of Us, Ocean Colour Scene, The Blades, Aslan and Jupe…

Castlepalooza – Fri 1st – Sun 3rd July – Charleville Castle, Tullamore – Caribou, Jurassic 5, Villagers, Cat Power, Romare, Tiger & Woods and many more…

Live at Iveagh Gardens – Through July
Jul 8 Fri – Bell X1
Jul 9 Sat – John Grant
Jul 10 Sun Wilco
Jul 14 Thu – Pixies
Jul 16 Sat – Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Jul 22 Fri – Richard Hawley
Jul 23 Sat – Little Green Cars

Laya City Spectacular – July 8th-10th and 16th-17th – Merrion Square, Dublin, before moving to Fitzgerald Park in Cork

Longitude – Fri 15th – Sun 17th July – Kendrick Lamar, Major Lazer, The National, Róisín Murphy, Father John Misty, Jamie xx, Tyler the Creator, Action Bronson, Courtney Barnett, CHVRCHES, Mo, ASAP Ferg and more! ‪

Happy Days – July 21st-August 1st – Enniskillen lakelands – Samuel Beckett

Knockanstockan – July 22nd-24th – Blessington Lakes –

Indie Pendence – 29th – 31st July – Deer Farm, Cork – Editors, Bell X1, The Kooks, Ash, The Strypes, Hudson Taylor, The Blizzards, Idlewild…

the Beatyard – 30-31 July – Dun Laoghaire Harbour – George Clinton Parliament Funkadelic, Snarky Puppy, Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Roy Ayers, Lee Scratch Perry, Tensnake

August

Kilkenny Arts Festival – August 5th-14th

September

Electric Picnic – Fri 2nd – Sun 4th Sept – LCD Soundsystem, Lana Del Rey, New Order, HAIM, Super Furry Animals, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Wolf Alice, Animal Collective, Wild Beasts, Broken Social Scene, Phosphorescent, Ezra Furman, Girls Names – Sold Out

Tiger Dublin Fringe – September 5th-18th

Culture Night – September 16th

Dublin Theatre Festival – September 29th-October 16th- Don Giovanni

October

Bram Stoker – October 28th-31st

Cork Guinness Jazz Festival – Oct 28th-31st

December

Other Voices – Dec 2nd-4th

NYF Dublin – Dec 30th-January 1st

2017

Offset – April

MusicTown – April

Bray Jazz Festival – April

The Kilkenny Rhythm and Roots Festival – April