COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE

Monday, November 25, 2019

QUESTION NO.(23)

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

"To ask the CEO if he has carried out a review of the recent Red Line Book Festival; will he present a report and say what has been learned to help plan the next Festival in 2020 and will he make a statement?"

REPLY:

"The 2019 Red Line Book Festival grew in stature and strength, with a programme encouraging all interests and demographics in South Dublin County and beyond to join in and attend events. The 2019 Festival boasted a trio of Laureates, with Irish Fiction Laureate Sebastian Barry, Laureate na nÓg Sarah Crossan, and Simon Armitage, the UK Poet Laureate.

This year’s festival welcomed current and notable names such as Laura Dodsworth of the Bare Reality and international performance artist Franko B. High profile Irish authors Sebastian Barry, Dermot Bolger, Kevin Barry, Joseph O’Connor, Kathleen Watkins, and Christine Dwyer Hickey brought both local and broader Irish audiences to the South Dublin County area.

New collaborations with Creative Ireland provided revenue for a Writer-in-Residence appointment, Continued collaboration with the Laureate office and Technological University Dublin, and the Dormant Accounts Fund project – Bring me to the Library Bus - all helped to create a rich and diverse festival.

Red Line for Schools - themes ranged from witchcraft and magic to inspiring historical characters his year with authors Deirdre Sullivan, Sarah Maria Griffin, and Moira Fowley Doyle for TY students, while storyteller Wayne O’Connor enthralled primary school students with legends and folktales from around the world. Aga Grandowicz, author of ‘Dr Hibernica Finch’s Compelling Compendium of Irish Animals’, brought a class of children with special needs and their carers to the Nature Room at the Pearse Museum, where they explored zoological facts and drew animals.

Lisa Harding, the inaugural Red Line Writer in Residence, drew together a community group of local voices and writers to come together and create a dynamic showcase, ‘Rediscovering Tallaght by Looking Up’. A performance piece made up of the fruits of eight weeks of interactive workshops exploring the notion of Place as Character, the showcase drew a packed local audience that heard startling new voices breathing life into a place as wonderfully diverse as Tallaght itself.

The annual Red Line Poetry Competition drew a record number of entries this year, with 358 poems submitted. This year’s Poetry Night and Short Story Night brought together writers, readers, and publishers of all forms for two great nights of prose, poetry, prizes and recitations. Our post-event survey this year received a wonderful response, with over 50 comments.

Overall, excellent feedback was given, with the programming and authors in the Red Line Book Festival being key draws. Many expressed an interest in attending similar events again in the future.

Attendance at the 2019 RLBF was 3,157 and revenue created from ticket sales was €4986.44 which covered the rental costs of the Civic Theatre.

Post festival survey feedback

70% of attendees were female.

50% of the Audience over the age of 40.

28% were under 18

60% lived in South Dublin and 49% attended for the first time this year."