News

Curating the Belfast Book Festival


June 2024
Neil Hegarty has co-curated the Belfast Book Festival 2024, with a host of writers coming to the Crescent Arts Centre from 6-13 June.
belfastbookfestival.com/

Neil Hegarty joins RTE Short Story Competition judging panel


March 2024
Neil Hegarty joins Kathleen MacMahon and Claire Kilroy in judging this year's edition of the long-established competition.
rte.ie/radio/radio1/rte-short-story-competition/2024/0312/1437532-how-to-enter/

Neil Hegarty and Aingeala Flannery judge the inaugural Ennis Book Club Festival short story competition


March 2024
'Skin Care', by Susan Elsley: read the winning entry here.
ennisbookclubfestival.com/announcing-the-winner-of-the-ennis-book-club-festival-short-story-competition/

Neil Hegarty with Sunday Miscellany at Dublin's National Concert Hall


December 2023
Neil Hegarty joins a host of writers and the RTE Concert Orchestra for Sunday Miscellany's annual Christmas event.
rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22337342/

Neil Hegarty at Echoes Festival


October 2023
Neil Hegarty joins a host of writers and contemporary cultural figures in Dalkey.
echoes.ie/

Neil Hegarty at Kildare Readers' Week


October 2023
Join Neil in conversation with Katherine O’Donnell and Declan Toohey - and there are many more events in a wonderful programme.
kildarecoco.ie/library/KildareReadersFestival/events/index.html

Neil Hegarty at the Italian Irish Literary Festival


September 2023
Join Neil at Dublin's Istituto Italiano di Cultura for a conversation with novelists Elaine Feeney (How to Build a Boat) and Viola Ardone (The Children's Train): all part of a weekend of readings, culture, and conversation.
iicdublino.esteri.it/iic_dublino/it/gli_eventi/calendario/2023/09/festival-della-letteratura-itaconversati

Neil Hegarty at Derry's Feile 2023


August 2023
Join Neil at Little Acorns bookshop for conversations with Andrea Carter, author of the Inishowen Mysteries novels; and with Kerri ní Dochartaigh, author of Cacophony of Bone and of Thin Places.
eventbrite.co.uk/e/feile-2023-andrea-carter-in-conversation-with-neil-hegarty-tickets-686066061057?aff=oddtdtcreator

eventbrite.co.uk/e/feile-2023-kerri-ni-dochartaigh-in-conversation-with-neil-hegarty-tickets-686049631917?aff=odcleoeventsincollection

A new essay for RTE Sunday Miscellany


July 2023
'Swift Boxes': Neil Hegarty discusses the climate crisis and Anthropocene on RTE radio.
rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22271945/

Impermanence at the John Hewitt Summer School


July 2023
Neil Hegarty in conversation with fellow Impermanence contributors Susan McKay, Jan Carson, and Nandi Jola at the Marketplace Theatre, Armagh.
visitarmagh.com/2023-07-26t1900000100/

Programming the Belfast Book Festival


June 2023
Neil Hegarty acts as programming associate at the Belfast Book Festival, featuring Deirdre Madden, Kerri ni Dochartaigh, Kathleen MacMahon, and a host of other writers. The Festival runs 13-18 June.
belfastbookfestival.com/whats-on

Neil Hegarty at Listowel Writers' Week


June 2023
Neil Hegarty joins Susannah Dickey and Emma Warnock for 'Essays from the Centre Culturel Irlandais', a discussion of Impermanence.
writersweek.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873634774

Neil Hegarty at Étonnants Voyageurs


May 2023
Neil Hegarty speaks about La surface de l'eau and Impermanence at Étonnants Voyageurs, St Malo: one of the great literary festivals of France.
etonnants-voyageurs.com/spip.php?page=invites&id_article=27093&id_rubrique=12

A Certain Heroism: a new essay for RTE Sunday Miscellany


April 2023
A Certain Heroism remembers the courage and persistence of Pat Hume and other discreet peacemakers who helped forge the Good Friday Agreement.
rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22233441/

Impermanence on radio: a new landmark series on RTE Radio One


March 2023
Impermanence has been transformed into a six-part radio series, reflecting on twenty-five years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The series begins with Neil Hegarty's essay Klondike, introduced by Nora Hickey M'Sichili.
rte.ie/radio/radio1/impermanence/

Neil Hegarty at the Ennis Book Club Festival

March 2023
Neil Hegarty at Ireland's springtime festival, in conversation with Olivia Fitzsimons, Michelle Gallen, and Lucy Caldwell.
ennisbookclubfestival.com/etn/northern-irish-writing-flourishi202

Northern Soul at the Irish Writers' Centre

February 2023
Neil Hegarty reads from 'Impermanence' at Northern Soul, the Irish Writers' Centre's exploration of writing and ideas from Northern Ireland.
irishwriterscentre.ie/whats-on/irish-writers-centre-unveils-northern-soul-roadshow-a-showcase-of-northern-irish-writing/

A new essay for RTE Sunday Miscellany

January 2023
In Red Granite, Neil Hegarty considers Sweden, Ireland, and the allure of the western horizon. rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22190592/

Neil Hegarty at the Seamus Heaney HomePlace

December 2022
Neil Hegarty, Nora Hickey M'Sichili, Brian McGilloway, and Nandi Jola discuss the writing of 'Impermanence' with Denzil McDaniel.
seamusheaneyhome.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873629045

Neil Hegarty discusses 'Impermanence' at the Dublin Book Festival

November 2002
Impermanence editors Neil Hegarty and Nora Hickey M'Sichili join Henrietta McKervey and Kerri ni Dochartaigh to explore their essays, writing and the nature of impermanence.
dublinbookfestival.com/event/the-nature-of-impermanence/

Neil Hegarty and Mona de Pracontal at Trinity College Dublin

November 2022
The French translation of Inch Levels was published by Éditions Joëlle Losfeld in October: and at this event hosted by the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation, Neil Hegarty and translator Mona de Pracontal discuss the art of translation.
tcd.ie/literary-translation/upcoming-events/

Neil Hegarty at the Belfast Festival

October 2022
Neil Hegarty joins Gail McConnell and Maria McManus to discuss the themes and context of 'Impermanence' with Denzil McDaniel.
belfastinternationalartsfestival.com/event/conversations-on-impermanence/

Neil Hegarty discusses 'Impermanence' at the Omagh Literary Festival

October 2022
Neil Hegarty in conversation with Sam McBride at the Strule Arts Centre, discussing the evolution of the essays collected in Impermanence.
struleartscentre.co.uk/show/omagh-literary-festival-neil-hegarty-in-conversation-with-sam-mcbride/

Inch Levels is published in French translation as La surface de l'eau

October 2022
La surface de l'eau is translated by Mona de Pracontal, and published by Éditions Joëlle Losfeld/Gallimard. It was launched by Clíona de Riordan at the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris.
gallimard.fr/Catalogue/GALLIMARD/Joelle-Losfeld/Litterature-etrangere-Joelle-Losfeld/La-surface-de-l-eau


Kaleidoscope presents 'Burned', a new essay by Neil Hegarty

October 2022
The EFACIS Kaleidoscope project explores the relationship between Irish writers and Europe.
kaleidoscope2.efacis.eu/writer/neil-hegarty

Neil Hegarty and Mona de Pracontal at Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris

October 2022
Neil Hegarty and Mona de Pracontal discuss the translation of Inch Levels into La surface de l'eau, published by Editions Joelle Losfeld on 6 October 2022.
www.centreculturelirlandais.com/en/whats-on/exhibitions-events/rencontre-avec-neil-hegarty

'A Ming Bowl', for RTE Sunday Miscellany

September 2002
A new radio essay on the Spanish Armada, history, time, and space.
www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22142368/

'Do better': A new essay in The Stinging Fly

July 2022
Neil Hegarty contributes to an essay season in The Stinging Fly, with reflections on the effects of time, patience, and self-knowledge. stingingfly.org/2022/07/28/notes-on-rejection/

Excellent reviews of Impermanence

July 2022
The first reviews of Impermanence are full of praise. 'A wide-ranging, moving and beautifully written series of reflections on friendship, family, place and society,' writes the Irish Times.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/review/2022/07/23/impermanence-lifts-us-up-and-beyond-the-enclosed-and-the-inevitable/?

'Supple, subtle, and surprising,' writes the Irish Independent.
www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/book-reviews/impermanence-what-lies-north-of-the-border-depends-on-whos-looking-41839601.html

RTE Sunday Miscellany feature

July 2022
Neil Hegarty's radio feature on 'la mer d'Iroise'
www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22116280/

Primadonna Festival lineup announcement

July 2022
Neil Hegarty appears at this summer's Primadonna Festival, Suffolk.
www.primadonnafestival.com/year-2022/

Salon de Livre Insulaire, France

July 2022
Neil Hegarty appears at the Salon de Livres, Ouessant, France
fr.calameo.com/read/006272294d0721d811eb5

Publication of Impermanence

June 2022
Impermanence, a new collection of essays edited by Neil Hegarty and Nora Hickey M'Sichili, and published by No Alibis Press and the Centre Culturel Irlandais, is launched in Paris. Impermanence features essays by Jan Carson, Carlo Gebler, Henrietta McKervey, Nandi Jola, Gail McConnell, Neil Hegarty, Susannah Dickey, Maria McManus, Susan McKay, Paul McVeigh, Brian McGilloway, and Kerri ni Dochartaigh.
www.noalibispress.com/news/new-publication-impermanence

Residency on the isle of Ouessant, France

June 2022
Neil Hegarty is awarded the Sémaphore du Creac’h writers' residency.
www.livre-insulaire.fr/

Focus on Northern Ireland at Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris

June 2022
Neil Hegarty takes part in a soirée of visual arts, literature, music and film from Northern Ireland.
www.centreculturelirlandais.com/en/whats-on/exhibitions-events/regards-sur-lirlande-du-nord/

Neil Hegarty judges Irish Novel Fair 2022

February 2022
Neil Hegarty, Cauvery Madhavan and Gavin Corbett select the twelve Novel Fair finalists.
www.irishwriterscentre.ie/12-emerging-writers-selected-as-the-winners-of-novel-fair-2022/

Neil Hegarty on Shelfmarks podcast, with Zoe Comyns and Royal Irish Academy

December 2021
New writing plus discussion of the Anthropocene, nature, and the climate crisis.
www.ria.ie/news/publications/shelfmarks-neil-hegarty

Queer Love: Emma Donoghue and Neil Hegarty in conversation with Paul McVeigh at the Dublin Book Festival 2021

8 November, 7pm-8pm GMT
Free
ONLINE EVENT
More information: dublinbookfestival.com/programme/queer-love/

Neil Hegarty reviews The New Frontier: Reflections from the Irish Border

Irish Times, 24 October 2021.
Read the review here:
irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-new-frontier-reflections-from-the-irish-border-true-north-1.4696516

Border Literatures, at the National Library of Ireland

Wednesday 20 October, 7pm

Register for this event

Neil Hegarty, Liam McIlvanney, and Elizabeth Mannion in conversation at the National Library of Ireland, discussing Andrea Carter's Death at Whitewater Church: An Inishowen Mystery.
More information: www.nli.ie/en/border-literatures.aspx

Neil Hegarty on BBC Open Book


October 2022
A discussion of the long and fascinating relationship between literature and painting.
bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pvd9



Follow Neil Hegarty on Twitter
Neil Hegarty on Instagram
Neil Hegarty is a member of the Society of Authors, and the Irish Writers' Centre; and is a director of Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann.