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Friday, March 22: Paying tribute to the vibrant work and experiences of Black and mixed-race artists and performers from Ireland and the Bay Area, the evening showcases the work - music, dance, poetry, film, art - of a panel of diverse artists, who will share their experiences, stories and their art. Moderated by Dubliner Leon Diop, co-author of the book “Black & Irish,” the showcase includes panelists (live): Maïa Nunes, performance artist; Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi, poet; Dr. Phil Mullen, head of Trinity College Dublin’s Black Studies Program; Bay Area Chinese Irish dancer and choreographer, Megan Lowe (and streaming) Tolü Makay, singer; Monjola, alternative R&B artist.
Saturday March 23: The Festival is thrilled the Presidio Theatre is presenting Lúnasa as an adjunct event this weekend. According to The Irish Echo, Lúnasa is “the hottest Irish acoustic band on the planet.” The band’s complex arrangements and unique sound has reshaped the boundaries of trad music.
Sunday, March 24, Afternoon “The Look of The Irish” continues with a series of events, each guaranteed to inspire:
2pm, journey back in time to County Mayo of the 1930s and 1940s as Cormac O’Malley - son of famed Irish republican, intellectual and writer, Ernie O’Malley, and artist Helen Hooker O’Malley - will give a talk to accompany the photography exhibit “Western Ways: The Photographs of Helen Hooker O’Malley," that will be on view in the lobby.
2.35pm, Author Emer Martin, a radical and vital voice in Irish writing, takes the stage to discuss “Dark Histories of Post-Colonial Ireland” in relation to her latest books “The Cruelty Men” and “Thirsty Ghosts.”
3.25pm, “Connecting Ireland and the Caribbean” features panelists Dr. Miriam Nyhan Grey, whose research agenda is animated by the intersections of race, ethnicity and imperial legacies in the Irish diasporic experience, with a special interest in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Dr. Grey appears in conversation with Dr. Maria McGarrity, who explores the relationship of Irish and Caribbean literature and how Irish diasporic communities negotiate identity and belonging.
4.15pm “African-Irish Women: Institutions and Identity.” Dr. Phil Mullen, Associate Professor of Black Studies, Trinity College Dublin, who grew up in the industrial school system, will speak about how Black and mixed African-Irish women - who went through the Irish institutional care system without families - construct their identity. Dr. Mullen will be in conversation with author Emer Martin.
Sunday, March 24, 7.30pm: Exclusive author event with Colum McCann
In this highly anticipated exclusive author event, award-winning author Colum McCann will discuss his latest books, "American Mother” a gripping story of Diane Foley, whose son, James Foley, was captured and killed by ISIS while serving as a freelance combat reporter in Syria.
See CNN interview on Christina Amanpour, February 22
Sting described this book as one that will “…shake your soul out. A thriller, a memoir, a mystery, a portrait of forgiveness, and a literary song of grace…one of the most extraordinarily well-braided stories that I have read in years.”
A thought-provoking conversation will be moderated by Kelly Candaele, a writer, filmmaker, and former elected official known for his coverage of the Northern Ireland peace process for the Los Angeles Times.
The Irish Art & Writers Festival is supported, in part, by Culture Ireland and the Consulate General of Ireland, San Francisco
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