Our 2023 Programme

Browse our full 2023 programme below. Our 2024 line-up will be announced in late March/early April. See you in Bantry next summer, 12-19 July 2024!

View our WCLF Brochure (PDF) here
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Arts For Health: West Cork with E.R. Murray

7 July 2023
Private event
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Exhibition: Cow Tuesday by John David Ratajkowski

7 July 2023
Bantry Library
Free – all week
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Letter Café

7 July 2023
Forest & Flock
Free – all week
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Literary Agent: Sallyanne Sweeney – online

7 July 20231:00 pm
Zoom
€12
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Richard Kearney: Salvage

7 July 20233:00 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
€18
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WCLF Opening Reception

7 July 20235:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free – all welcome
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Graham Norton

7 July 20238:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€32
SOLD OUTFind out more

Yoga in the Loggia (moved from Lawn due to rain!)

8 July 20239:00 am
Bantry House Tearooms
€15 – pay on the day
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Poetry As Commemoration: Teen workshop

8 July 202311:00 am
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
Free but ticketed. Max 15 people. Age: 14-17
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Sir Adam The Brave & The Moody Monsters: David & Adam King

8 July 202311:00 am
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free but ticketed. Age 3+
SOLD OUTFind out more

Clara Kumagai: Catfish Rolling

8 July 202311:30 am
Bantry Bookshop
Free. Age 14+ (also loved by adults!)
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From The Well: hosted by Alex Barclay

8 July 20231:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free
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Eoghan Daltun: An Irish Atlantic Rainforest

8 July 20232:15 pm
Whiddy Island
€25 including ferry
SOLD OUTFind out more

Yeva Skalietska: You Don’t Know What War Is: The diary of a young girl from Ukraine

8 July 20235:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free
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Owen O’Neill: The Whole Nine Yarns

8 July 20238:30 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
€20
SOLD OUTFind out more

Open Mic

8 July 202310:00 pm
Ma Murphy’s
Free
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Easkey Britton, Irish surfer, scientist and author, on the beach near her home in Rosnowlagh, Co. Donegal. Photo: James Connolly 08APR21

Easkey Britton: Ebb and Flow

9 July 202310:00 am
Bantry House Tearooms
€12
SOLD OUTFind out more

The Simple Act of Walking: Writing Workshop with Arnold Thomas Fanning

9 July 202310:00 am
The Maritime Hotel
€30
SOLD OUTFind out more

Festival Swim

9 July 202311:20 am
The Abbey Strand
Free
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Cancelled: Alice Zeniter

9 July 2023
The Maritime Hotel
Cancelled
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Nicole Flattery & Megan Nolan

9 July 202312:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€18
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Cónal Creedon: Art Imitating Life Imitating Death

9 July 20232:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€18
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Poetry SOS: Vital Signs with Jane Clarke

9 July 20233:00 pm | 3:15 pm | 3:30 pm | 3:45 pm | 4:00 pm | 4:15 pm | 4:30 pm | 4:45 pm | 5:00 pm | 5:15 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€10 for an individual ten-minute slot
SOLD OUTFind out more

Leona Forde: Milly McCarthy is a Complete Catastrophe

9 July 20233:00 pm
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free but ticketed
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Holy Show’s Sunday Sermon

9 July 20234:30 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
Free
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Donal Ryan: The Queen of Dirt Island

9 July 20238:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€20 (Tickets available on the door)
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Open Mic

9 July 202310:00 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free
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Workshop: Crime Writing with Catherine Ryan Howard

10 July 20239:30 am
St Finbarr’s Boys National School
€230
SOLD OUTFind out more

Workshop: Essay Writing with Brian Dillon

10 July 20239:30 am
St Finbarr’s Boys National School
€230
SOLD OUTFind out more

Workshop: Intensive Fiction Writing with Belinda McKeon

10 July 20239:30 am
St Finbarr’s Boys National School
€230
SOLD OUTFind out more

Workshop: Place Writing with Cal Flyn

10 July 20239:30 am
Whiddy Island
€245 including ferry
SOLD OUTFind out more

Dylan Brennan & Jane Clarke

10 July 202310:00 am
Bantry House Tearooms
€12
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Workshop: Making Poetry with James Harpur

10 July 202310:00 am
St Finbarr’s Boys National School
€230
SOLD OUTFind out more

Gráinne Murphy: Winter People

10 July 202311:30 am
Bantry Bookshop
Free
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IWC/WCLF Young Writer Delegates Programme 2023

10 July 2023
Apply by 17 May. Ages 18-26
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David Toms: Pacemaker

10 July 20231:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free
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Anya Bergman & Sophie White

10 July 20232:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€18
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The Presidents’ Letters: Flor MacCarthy

10 July 20235:00 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
€18
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Cal Flyn & Katie Holten

10 July 20236:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€16
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Sally Hayden: My Fourth Time, We Drowned

10 July 20238:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€20
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Open Mic

10 July 202310:00 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free
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Kathleen Balgley: Letters To My Father

11 July 202310:00 am
Bantry House Tearooms
€12
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Poetry As Commemoration: Workshop

11 July 202311:00 am
The Maritime Hotel
Free but ticketed. Max 12 people
SOLD OUTFind out more

Daragh Fleming: Lonely Boy

11 July 202311:30 am
Bantry Bookshop
Free
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Sarah Byrne & Jente Posthuma

11 July 20231:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free
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Mic Drop: Author Event Masterclass with Dave Rudden

11 July 20232:00 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€80
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Elaine Feeney & Jarred McGinnis

11 July 20232:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€18
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Writing the Crisis: Creative Responses to Climate Change

11 July 20235:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free
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Launch of the 2023 Fish Anthology

11 July 20236:00 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free
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India Knight: Darling

11 July 20238:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€20
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Open Mic

11 July 202310:00 pm
Ma Murphy’s
Free
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CANCELLED: Writing workshop & garden tour with Sarah Byrne

12 July 202310:00 am
Bantry House Gardens
€30
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Gerda Blees: We Are Light

12 July 202310:00 am
Bantry House Tearooms
€12
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Elephant Island: Leo Timmers

12 July 202311:00 am
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free but ticketed. Age: 4-11
SOLD OUTFind out more

Sara O’Donovan: Within You Without You

12 July 202311:30 am
Bantry Bookshop
Free
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William Wall: Empty Bed Blues

12 July 20231:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free
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Raymond Antrobus & Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh

12 July 20232:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€18. ISL Interpretation
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The Summer I Robbed a Bank: Family Theatre

12 July 20233:00 pm
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free but ticketed. Age 8+
SOLD OUTFind out more

Maurice Devitt & Matthew Geden

12 July 20235:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free
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Open Mic Matinee

12 July 20236:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free
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Winnie M Li & Catherine Ryan Howard

12 July 20236:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€16
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John Banville: The Singularities

12 July 20238:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€20
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Open Mic

12 July 202310:00 pm
Ma Murphy’s
Free
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Brian Dillon: Affinities

13 July 202310:00 am
Bantry House Tearooms
€12
SOLD OUTFind out more

Can Bears Ski? Raymond Antrobus

13 July 202311:00 am
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free but ticketed. Age 3+. ISL Interpreter
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Disha Bose: Dirty Laundry

13 July 202311:30 am
Bantry Bookshop
Free
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James Harpur & Billy O’Callaghan

13 July 20231:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free
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The Rainbow Library with Kip Alizadeh

13 July 20232:15 pm
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free
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Darina Allen & Rory O’Connell

13 July 20233:00 pm
Bantry House
€25
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Library Writing Groups Showcase

13 July 20235:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free
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Young Writer Delegates Showcase

13 July 20235:00 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free
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Majed Mujad & Kareem James Abu-Zeid: The Book of Trivialities

13 July 20236:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€16
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Hannah Sullivan & Molly Twomey

13 July 20238:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€20
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Open Mic

13 July 202310:00 pm
Ma Murphy’s
Free
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John David Ratajkowski: Cow Tuesday

14 July 202310:00 am
Bantry House Tearooms
€12
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Seaweed & Sealing Wax 3: Ellen Hutchins & Dawson Turner. Featuring Marianne Lee

14 July 202311:00 am
Future Forests
€18
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Soula Emmanuel & Ann-Marie MacDonald

14 July 20231:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free
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Running Feet, Sharp Noses with Sara Baume & Jessica Traynor

14 July 20233:00 pm
National Learning Network (NLN)
€18
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Exhibition Opening: Neither Here Nor There

14 July 20235:00 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
Free
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Jon Gower: A Biography of the Irish Sea

14 July 20235:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free
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Loah: Public Interview

14 July 20237:30 pm
Ma Murphy’s
€16
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Pop Up Gaeltacht

14 July 20239:00 pm
Ma Murphy’s
Free
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Download the programme

Download the programme

Download a PDF of the Literary Festival brochure

Download the programme
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FAQs

Find the most important Literary Festival FAQs

FAQs
Tourist information

Tourist information

Information on transport to Bantry, accommodation, wining, dining and entertainment

Tourist Information

Programme 2023

Arts Council - funding literature
Fáilte Ireland
Wild Atlantic Way
CCC Library & Arts Service
Cork County Council
Pure Cork
Creative Places West Cork Islands
RTÉ Supporting The Arts
Maritime Hotel