By Dan Walsh
Wexford town is set for a weekend of books and literary events as the annual Wexford Book Fair expands into the first Wexford Book Festival running this weekend (Friday to Sunday, October 16th to 18th) culminating in the 55th annual Wexford Book Fair at the Talbot Hotel on Sunday.
“We want Wexford to become a town of books for the weekend,” said festival organiser Wally O’Neill of Red Books. “The Book Fair has been running for fifty-five years now, making it the longest running Book Fair in Ireland. Expanding it into a festival seemed like the perfect way to celebrate that.”
The weekend will feature three book launches, with Margaret Hawkins, Gordon D’Arcy and Phil Hughes all launching books during the festival.
On Friday, Kinfolk will host Ireland’s first ever book rave, while Outspoken Spokenword Open-Mic will take place next door in Red Books Underground, following the launch of Margaret Hawkins “The Blood Cure”.
On Saturday, Eclectic Avenue will host a paperback book market as the festival continues across the town. There will be a pop-up Gaeltacht in Red Books Underground and the South-East launch of “Birdlife” by Gordon D’Arcy. Phil Hughes will be launching “The Rebel and the Seeress” in Red Books on Thursday.
The weekend will then culminate with the traditional Wexford Book Fair at the Talbot Hotel from 11am until 5pm on Sunday,
As well as the book dealers who have made the fair a fixture of Wexford life for more than half a century, Sunday will feature a celebration of independent publishing, talks on Wexford history and local poetry, and special events for children.
“The great thing about a book festival is that it can belong to everybody,” Mr O’Neill said. “You don’t have to be a serious collector or know anything about rare books. You can be looking for an antiquarian edition or simply bringing a young reader along to discover something new. Everyone is welcome.”
The expansion marks a new chapter for a Wexford tradition that has continued through economic booms and downturns, the rise of Amazon and the disruption of the pandemic.
“This is about building on those fifty-five years,” Mr O’Neill added. “The Book Fair remains at the heart of it. We’re just giving people another two days to celebrate books around Wexford.”
