Over 70 speakers and a handful of musicians will descend on Borris village over the weekend of 16 to 18 June.

Among the novelists appearing this year are Ian McEwan, Bernadine Evaristo, John Banville, Elaine Feeney, Paul Murray, Katherine Rundell, Richard Ford, Claire Keegan, Audrey Magee, Kathleen Murray and Caoilinn Hughes.

Ground-breaking thinkers and non-fiction writers include psychiatrist Dr Iain McGilchrist, the brains behind QI and Spitting Image John Lloyd, political, investigative and conflict journalists Fintan O’Toole, Gary Younge and Carol Cadwalladr, film-maker David Puttnam, author of Hare with the Amber Eyes and artist Edmund de Waal, and historians Ben McIntyre and William Dalrymple; comedians David Baddiel, Ruby Wax and Natalie Hynes, human rights lawyers Philippe Sands and Jason McCue, and journalist Olivia O’Leary who hails from Borris.
Musicians speaking include Nick Cave’s lifelong collaborator Warren Ellis, Fontaines DC frontman Grian Chatten, Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood, U2’s Adam Clayton, Hothouse Flowers guitarist Fiachna O Braonáin, the composer behind Riverdance Bill Whelan, and the one and only Imelda May.

Amongst the other speakers and events are Jeremy Irons and Sinead Cusack tackling Joyce on Bloomsday, morning yoga led by movement artist Amaia Elizaran with Liam O Maonlai on the harp, visual artists Dorothy Cross, Perry Ogden and Osman Yousefzada, and the diary of teenage Ukrainian war escapee Yeva Skaliestka.

This year’s music in the evening will be from Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Liam O Maonlai, Donal Dineen, Junior Brother, Niwel Tsumbu, Zoe Conway & John McIntyre, The Len Collective, Rachael Lavelle, Brigid Mae Power, Seamus Hyland, Niamh Bury, Inni-K, and Louise and Michelle Mulcahy.

Tickets are to come for a day or for the entire weekend; no tickets to individual talks or events are available.

Full details on www.festivalofwritingandideas.com.