Friday 26 – Sunday 29 April 2019
Various locations, Hillsborough village
Look past the newspaper headlines and consider migration from a different perspective at this year’s Hillsborough Festival of Literature & Ideas.
The John Hewitt Society has coordinated a series of events in the festival programme highlighting the experiences of the real people involved, discussing the challenges of migration, emigration and asylum seekers.
Housing4All are a group of asylum seekers who are trying to ensure that the human right to housing is realised for destitute asylum seekers in Northern Ireland. Housing 4 All will present a short-rehearsed reading that members of Housing4All will perform focuses on some of these issues in more detail, highlighting the difficult realities of the lives of people seeking asylum, safety, and sanctuary in Belfast.
'Sky, you are too big...' includes poets Maria McManus, Viviana Fiorentino & Nandi Jola exploring translations, language, cultural diversity and difference, inclusion, and the themes of belonging, dispossession, feeling lost, migration, seeking asylum. The reading is intended to raise awareness of Larne House Visitors Group, a volunteer group offering support to those held locally in a detention centre in Northern Ireland.
Sorcha Pollak is a journalist who will present her new book New to the Parish: Stories of Love, War and Adventure from Ireland’s Immigrants, relating fourteen stories are given context by succinct analysis of how world events over the past decade have played a role in the migration crisis.
Hilary Copeland, General Manager of The John Hewitt Society, said,
“It has been a pleasure to work in collaboration with several partners over the past year to establish links with local residents and community groups, and bring these pressing issues to the stage in the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council area.”
The second Hillsborough Festival of Literature and Ideas takes place Friday 26 – Sunday 29 April 2019, with a diverse line-up encompassing poetry, prose, music, workshops and talks.
Founded by The John Hewitt Society, the festival team have worked with novelist, journalist and broadcaster Ian Sansom to curate the festival programme. Collaborations with local groups throughout the year has ensured that community involvement is at the centre of this event, with participation and support from Historic Royal Palaces, local churches, bars and retailers.
This three-day book festival promises over 30 events, to provide visitors and residents with a new perspective on the picturesque Georgian village.
The festival is supported by Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council and is delivered by the team behind the John Hewitt International Summer School, a six-day festival of culture and creativity, taking place 22-27 July 2019 in Armagh.
Damian Smyth, Head of Literature at Arts Council of Northern Ireland, added: “Visitors to the Hillsborough Festival of Literature and Ideas have much to look forward to this spring. We wish The John Hewitt Society and all those involved the very best of luck with this year’s programme and look forward to what promises to be a tremendous weekend of events.”
More information on the festival programme will be available at www.johnhewittsociety.org
For more information please contact Hilary Copeland, General Manager, The John Hewitt Society at hilary@johnhewittsociety.org or on 028 9032 4522.
The John Hewitt Society would like to offer special thanks to the Institute of Conflict Research, Historic Royal Palaces and No Alibis Bookstore for making this year’s festival possible.
Supported by Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council.
The John Hewitt Society gratefully acknowledges the support of its principal funder The Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
- Sorcha Pollak is an Irish journalist based in Dublin working for The Irish Times with a specific focus on migration and immigrant communities in Ireland. She is the author of ‘New to the Parish: Stories of Love, War and Adventure from Ireland’s Immigrants’, published by New Island, 2018. New to the Parish chronicles fourteen personal stories of people who have come to Ireland for work, education, retirement, love and in some cases, out of necessity, forced from their homes by death and destruction, given context by succinct analysis of how world events over the past decade have played a role in the migration crisis.
- Maria McManus has collaborated extensively with others to put poetry into public space in projects such as Quotidian-Word on the Street, Cirque des Oiseaux, DUST, and Label Lit. She is curator of Ireland’s first Poetry Jukebox, currently situated at The Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast. Maria is a volunteer with ‘Larne House Visitor Group’, a local volunteer group doing just that. The group’s aim is to offer support, practical advice and friendship to people held in these centres. Most are part of an extensive network of visiting groups, offering a wide range of support, advice or direct assistance with a number of issues such as health or legal support.
- Housing4All are a group of asylum seekers who are trying to ensure that the human right to housing is realised for destitute asylum seekers in Northern Ireland. Housing4All, supported by Participation and Practice of Rights (PPR), monitored how their human right to housing was being violated; how it impacted individuals and families; and identify possible solutions.
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Hillsborough Festival of Literature & Ideas
Friday 26 – Sunday 29 April 2019
Various locations, Hillsborough village
View the full programme and book tickets online at: www.johnhewittsociety.org