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THIS YEAR’S DUBLIN: One City One Book festival has chosen Echoland by Joe Joyce as this year’s novel of choice.
Now in its 12th year, this year’s chosen book focuses on the Emergency in Dublin during the 1940s during the period of World War Two.
The setting of the book will create the focus of a series of free events that will take place across April to celebrate the One City One Book festival.
While essentially a spy novel telling a story of espionage in a neutral Ireland, Joyce said that the city of Dublin is an integral part of the story.
He said: “As I was writing it, I was very conscious of the hardships and great dangers of the Emergency period, faced – as always by Dubliners – with resilience and wit.”
The full programme of events for the festival includes tours at the Air Corps museum in Baldonnel on Thursdays in April at 11am, a round table of authors discussing how to write crime fiction in Dublin City Library on 25 April, and a talk on Spies in 1940s Ireland at Dublin Castle’s Chapel Royal on 10 April by Professor Eunan O’Halpin.
Lord Mayor Brendan Carr said: “I know it will prove to be a popular choice with bookclubs and the City’s many readers.
I hope people will engage with the many interesting events that take place during the month of April as part of this wonderful festival.
Previous works designated the novel of choice for One City One Book include James Joyce’s Dubliners, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown trilogy.
The festival is organised by Dublin City Council’s Public Library Service.
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I’m gonna pick this up. Love stuff like this.
As an aside, that’s one bomb in Dublin, (several fell), can you imagine what the city would have been like if the Germans decided to bomb it properly? There’d be nothing left.
The house shown in this picture is No. 584 North Circular Road on the corner of N.C.Rd and Rutland Place Nth. and is just one of several houses destroyed here and on Rutland Place as well as North Strand in May 1941. There wasn’t just 1 bomb but several that scattered and fell across a wider area. This picture is one of many commissioned by Dublin Corporation at the time as part of a compensation package agreed between the Irish and German Governments sometime after the bombings.
I’ve not heard of this book before, has anyone on here read it?
Looking forward to reading this book. I know it’s only fiction but the place names and general information of the time interests me.
Is that the novel where Dev got Collins killed for sleeping with his wife lol.
@Alois Irlmaier: No. your thinking of the one you made up.
@Just Me: No, just the talk at that time???
have your say