“The Son stands fair to hold its own in the canon of Great American Novels. A book that for once really does deserve to be called a masterpiece.”
Kate Atkinson

“Philip Schultz’s poems have long since earned their own place in American poetry... He is one of the least affected of American poets, and one of the fiercest.”
Tony Hoagland

Chairperson: Philip Coleman.

Dublin Writers Festival presents two leading American writers whose work takes radically different approaches to American history. Philipp Meyer came to writing the hard way, working as everything from Wall Street trader to ambulance driver to pay his way through college. But it all came good in 2009 when his first novel, American Rust, earned him a place on the New Yorker’s list of the 20 best novelists under 40. His new novel, The Son, is an epic exploration of Texan history focusing on Eli McCullough, whose oil and cattle empire bequeaths a dark and bloody legacy to succeeding generations. Philip Schultz is a Pulitzer-prize winning poet, celebrated for his exploration of immigration and the Jewish experience. His latest book, The Wherewithal, is a groundbreaking novel in verse that tells the story of Henryk Wyrzykowski, a young Polish-American holed up in a San Francisco basement who makes a terrible discovery when translating his mother’s diaries from the Second World War. This event is presented in association with Poetry Ireland, Bealtaine Festival and Age & Opportunity.