Following an open call for event proposals from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic artists and writers in February 2020, we are delighted to present six events as part of our Compass strand.

Writing Home, edited by Pat Boran and Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi, is a major new anthology of writing from Ireland that acknowledges and celebrates the contribution of those whose roots lie outside of the country. Contributors have brought new energy and perspectives to a subject that has long featured in writing from Ireland, creating a fresh new portrait of a changing country and a changing world. Readings are followed by a panel discussion about the concept of ‘writing home’.

Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan is a Dublin-based arts manager, performer, and prize-winning writer from India, who has recently been published in Banshee, Honest Ulsterman, and Poetry Ireland Review.

Co- editor of Writing Home, Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi is a Lagos-born, Galway-bred and Dublin-based writer, performer, arts facilitator, and literary editor. She was the 2019 recipient of the Poetry Ireland Access Cúirt Bursary.

Kayssie Kandiwa is a poet and singer-songwriter whose work blends her Zimbabwean cultural heritage and her Irish upbringing and intertwines Southern-African myths and local languages and forms. Her work was selected for Poetry Ireland’s Versify 2019 and she was a panellist for the IASIL 2019 Conference event: “Are We Doing Diversity Justice?”.

Evgeny Shtorn is an LGBT activist, organiser, and researcher from Russia who was recently awarded GCN’s ‘Person of the Year’ at the 2020 GALAS. In 2018, he was forced to leave Russia and claim international protection here in Ireland. 

Presented with support from Axis Ballymun.

The Gutter Bookshop is sad they can’t be at the festival in person this year but you can browse (and purchase!) books by the featured authors at the special ILFDublin festival shop - CLICK HERE. And remember that there’s no postage to pay in Ireland if you spend over €30 or if you choose to collect your books from either of our bookshops. Just choose the ‘Free Shipping’ or ‘Click & Collect’ options at checkout!