The Dalkey Book Festival (/ˈdɔːki/DAW-kee) is an annual literature festival held in Dalkey, CountyDublin, Ireland, for four days in June. Since its inception in 2010 by Sian Smyth and David McWilliams,[1][2] the festival has been held at a variety of venues in Dalkey, including Dalkey Castle, the local Town Hall, the Masonic Lodge, both churches, the local primary school, the medieval graveyard (where an Edgar Allan Poe adaptation was performed at midnight) and at various local cafes, bars and hostelries of the town. The compact nature of the town, its historic architecture and its location prompted the BBC's foreign correspondent John Simpson to call Dalkey "the loveliest little seaside town on Earth."[3]
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Although the festival started with a literary focus, it celebrates the arts in general, including theatre, film and comedy. It is also a festival of ideas, exploring the worlds of science, technology, current affairs, new politics and global trends.[4]
In 2020, the inaugural Dalkey Literary Awards were announced in advance of the festival of that year. The awards were in conjunction with the festivals long-standing sponsor; Zurich Ireland.[8]
There were prizes for 'Novel of the Year' and 'Emerging Writer'. The prize fund for the competition is totaled at €30,000. The winner of the 'Novel of the Year' award will receive €20,000 and the winner of 'Emerging Writer' award will receive €10,000.[9]
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Dalkey_Book_Festival, and is written by contributors.
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