TalksJoe Sacco
Joe Sacco's books are amazing glimpses into the complex issues of global politics that never lose sight of the everyday people who live in states of war. Joe travelled to the middle east for the first time in 1992 and came away from Israel and the occupied territories with the material that would make up his groundbreaking 2-part comic book series Palestine. Nothing like Palestine had ever been seen before, setting new standards for the use of the comic book as a documentary medium and receiving the prestigious American Book Award in 1996. His next major opus, Safe Area Gorazde, an exploration of a small Muslim enclave in Serbia, is a staggering and fierce condemnation of the political impotence and badly planned UN operations during the Bosnian conflict, and his 2002 book The Fixer is a remarkable story about how people subsist in a state of war, by finding the last thing left to sell: They sell their stories to western journalists like Sacco.
Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel Entertainment Centre Leviathan
Political cabaret, Leviathan comes to Galway Arts Festival to present a unique celebration of Sebastian Barry's remarkable new novel A Long Long Way. "One of the great books about the First World War, which escapes and transcends any merely Irish dimension or location. The Boston Globe has already called A Long Long Way a masterpiece. It is a judgement that is hard to fault." The Irish Times Join Leviathan host Naoise Nunn for a reading from the novel by Sebastian Barry, poetry from Michael Longley and an interactive discussion of the book and its historical, political and social themes with Professor John Horne of Trinity College, Dublin; Dr. Steven King of the Ulster Unionist Party; and Tadhg Moloney, Honorary Secretary of the Royal Munster Fusiliers Association. In a magical musical finale, living legend Liam Clancy will perform highly evocative songs from the era and will be joined by Cork balladeer Jimmy Crowley and June Tabor ?whose voice turns history into passion before your very ears. (BBC)
Venue: Radisson SAS Hotel What Good Are The Arts?
Always controversial and insightful, leading critic John Carey questions the true value of art in his startling new polemic, What Good Are The Arts? Author of the bestselling and controversial The Intellectuals and the Masses, John Carey promotes new debate in his book. Do the arts make us better people? Are they a sign of civilization? Why should high art be thought higher than low? Are judgements about art anything more than personal opinions? What are works of art anyway? John Carey is joined by a panel of leading Irish arts practitioners and commentators, including director Garry Hynes, writer, satirist and former TV and radio producer Stuart Carolan, author Pat McCabe, journalist and critic Donald Clarke and artist and writer Stephen Dee for this timely debate on the topics raised in his book.
Venue: Great Southern Hotel, Eyre Square |
