Granard Booktown Festival brings literary gathering to county Longford

Granard's first tentative steps to establish itself as a location for a book festival took place last week. Granard Booktown Festival is inspired by the global booktown movement, most notably Wigtown in Scotland.

Through books and the arts, Granard, will become Ireland's newest booktown.
Using words and literature we will bring speakers, writers and artists to the town over a long weekend each April.

The launch of Granard Booktown Festival took place in Granard Library last week. There was a bumper attendance for the occasion when author and Irish Times columnist Michael Harding was the guest speaker.

Still Voices Film Festival co-founder Ronan O'Toole is one of the driving forces behind the initiative. Ronan was delighted with the initial engagement of the booktown festival: “The launch was great. There was a good turnout from the Granard community. The board is a made up of many people from all across the county, so it was very important to get the support of the people of Granard.
“Rosemary Gaynor of Granard Library put in a tremendous effort and that helped the evening go well. The talk by Michael Harding on the importance of books was brilliant. Everyone is thrilled and very excited at the prospect of the festival next April.”

On the evening of the launch RTE were filming a piece for the programme “Keys to my Life”.
Presenter Brendan Courtney accompanied Michael Harding to the launch as part of that show.
The festival is run by a committee of local writers, artists and academics. Accessibility board member, James Cawley, is ensuring it will be a fully accessible festival.

Booktown has already attracted significant literary figures from Ireland and abroad as patrons, notably Man Booker prize winner Richard Flanagan, Emmy nominated journalist and Longford native Shaunagh Connaire, former Longford County librarian Mary Carlton Reynolds and RTE radio host and founder of Ireland's largest book club Rick O Shea.

Best-selling author John Connell, Viv Huynh, Cllr Remu Adejinmi, Belinda McKeon and Coucnil Cathaoirleach Turlough McGovern are all board members.

The aim of the board is to see the festival firmly established as one of Ireland’s premiere literary festivals and a destination for tourists from across the country and beyond.

All roads lead to Granard, Longford, April 21-23, 2023 for the inaugural Booktown festival. For more information visit the website www.granardbooktown festival.ie or follow on social media.