Literary Listings: October 2026

New for 2026, the Irish Writers Centre brings you a monthly round-up of literary events happening across the country, from book and magazine launches to panel discussions, festivals and lectures!

For a list of events happening in our own building at No. 19 Parnell Square, check out the dedicated Irish Writers Centre events page.

Have an event to share with us? Let us know at communications@irishwriterscentre.ie and where possible we’ll include in a following month’s listings.

Below, please find events coming up for October: 

 

Belfast:

2: Off the Page x Bounce Festival (Seamus Heaney Centre)

7: Poetry Launch: Nessa O’Mahony and Lorna Shaughnessy (No Alibis)

8: Launch: Máire Zepf’s He Loves Me (Not) (Seamus Heaney Centre)

10: Poetry Launch: Boyish by Cal O’Reilly (Seamus Heaney Centre)

10: Belfast, Silhouette: People-Centred Storytelling with Glenn Patterson (Seamus Heaney Centre)

10: Author talk, book signing, life drawing: Hotties in Art by Jack Shoulder (Paperxclips Books)

10: Writing Horror Workshop (Crescent Arts Centre)

14: Poetry Launch: Light Leaves by Gerry Cambridge (Seamus Heaney Centre)

22: FOLKLORE Journal launch party (Carlisle Memorial)

29: Richard Ayoade on Afterthoughts (Ulster Hall)

 

Cork:

1-4: Words by Water: Kinsale Literary Festival (Across various venues)

14-17: Cork International Short Story Festival (Across various venues)

19: Pygmalion 26 (Everyman Theatre)

31: Disco Pigs 30^th Anniversary (The Everyman Theatre)

 

Dublin:

1: Launch: Ideologies Are Not Your Friends by Bryan Fanning. (Books Upstairs)

1: Launch: Glorious Monsters by Martina Devlin (Hodges Figgis)

1: Launch: The Comets by Eoin McNamee (Gutter Bookshop)

2: Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor in conversation on End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World, part of Dublin Book Festival (RDS Ballsbridge)

4: Launch and Reading: Prophetstown by Ciaran O’Rourke. (Books Upstairs)

5: The Journey to a Vision W.B. Yeats tour (National Library of Ireland)

6: Spoken word workshop with Emmet O’Brien (This Must Be the Place)

8: Historical Fiction/Ficsean stairiúl, bilingual event (National Library of Ireland)

8: Róisín Tapponi and Michael Hill in conversation on Scene City. (Books Upstairs)

11: Susannah Dickey and Louise Nealon in conversation. (Books Upstairs)

11 & 25: Socrates Café – think, question, and engage in dialogue (Fumbally Stables)

14: Launch: Irish Gothic – Gothic stories edited by Helen Carr (Gutter Bookshop)

12-18: Red Line Book Festival (Tallaght, across various venues)

13: Ben Eastham and Isobel Harbison in conversation on The Floating World. (Books Upstairs)

14: Kevin Rafter on Fearless: Vincent Browne’s Magill and Ireland in the 1980s. (Books Upstairs)

15: Patrick Freyne and Dave Tynan in conversation on Experts in a Dying Field and We Used to Dance Here. (Books Upstairs)

16: Launch: No Vacancy by Jan Carson. (Books Upstairs)

16: Open Mic Night (Winding Stair Bookshop)

17: All About FEAR – Ireland’s women crime writers (Lexicon Dún Laoghaire)

19: Launch: The Matter  by Padraig Regan, in conversation with Tara McEvoy. (Books Upstairs)

20: Eli Davies and Tara McEvoy in conversation on The Spinster Cookbook. (Books Upstairs)

21: Launch: The Teenagers Book of Life by Tony Griffin. (Books Upstairs)

21: Launch: The Refugee Chronicles by Evgeny Shtorn (Hoggis Figgis)

22: Sharon Guard and Jackie Lynam in conversation on The Silence of October. (Books Upstairs)

28: Launch: Dinner by Erica Drum. (Books Upstairs)

28: Launch: Dear Monica Lewinsky by Julia Langbein (Gutter Bookshop)

29: Launch: John McGahern: A Writing Life by Frank Shovlin. (Books Upstairs)

29: Poetry Launch: Viewings by Alicia Byrne Keane (Gutter Bookshop)

 

Galway:

7: Louise O’Neill in conversation with Catherine Doyle (Kenny’s Bookshop)

13: Dara Molloy in conversation with Tom Kenny (Kenny’s Bookshop)

 

Kerry:

1-31: Children’s Book Festival (Kerry Libraries)

 

Kildare:

1-11: Kildare Readers Festival (Across various venues)

 

Kilkenny:

1-8: Bookville Kilkenny (Various venues)

31: Writing Historical Fiction with Molly Aitken (Mayfair Library)

 

Leitrim:

2-4: Iron Mountain Literature Festival (The Dock)

 

Limerick:

1-4: Éigse Michael Hartnett Literary & Arts Festival (Across various venues)

3: Reading: Dónal Ryan Where are the Kings (Longcourt House Hotel)

 

Louth:

17: Elements Poetry, film, and theatre performance (An Táin Arts Centre)

 

Mayo:

5-11: Wild Atlantic Words Literary Festival (Castlebar, across various venues)

 

Monaghan:

25^th September – 6^th October: Patrick Kavanagh Weekend (Inniskeen)

 

Tipperary:

1-31: Tipperary Children’s Book Festival (Tipperary Libraries)

8-11: Dromineer Nenagh Literary Festival (Across various venues)

 

Waterford:

22-26: Waterford Writers Weekend (Waterford City and Dungarvan)

 

Wicklow

13-14: Way with Words Festival (Blessington Library)