In what has become a strong event for the Ennis economy, the book club festival has also amassed a loyal cohort of followers over the past two decades.
Literary lovers and more will descend on the county town across the weekend with the programme of events running from Friday to Sunday at various venues across Ennis.
The Hare’s Corner – Making Space for Nature is a celebration of the quiet, hopeful revolution in Ireland, where people are restoring habitats and reconnecting with the land and takes place at 12pm on Friday to kick off the festival.
Continuing with this theme, at 2pm environmental campaigner, John Gibbons discusses the crisis in Irish farming and agriculture with environmental consultant Féidhlim Harty, whilst offering solutions for a sustainable future. Love & Change – New LGBTQ+ Writing with Seán Hewitt, Chloe Michelle Howarth and Nicola Dinan in conversation with Jackie Lynam celebrates distinctive narratives and the power of representation.
Poetry 2026 features Karen J McDonnell, Erin Fornoff and Molly Twomey and takes place in De Valera Library.
New Perspectives in Writing will bring Wendy Erskine, Oona Frawley and Oisín Fagan who play with form and content in surprising and inventive ways and will be in conversation with Aoife Barry in The Temple Gate Hotel. The annual Clare-based Writers event takes place in St Columba’s Church and this year features Karen Fitzgibbon, Joe Queally and Michael McTigue in conversation with Diarmuid de Faoite.
One of the highlight events of the festival takes place at 8pm in glór celebrating Irish fiction and featuring authors Michael Harding, Edel Coffey and Anna Carey in conversation with Declan Hughes.
Saturday morning events kick off with Hugo Hamilton in conversation with Éilís Ní Dhuibhne at 10am in St Columba’s followed by Festival favourite Ten Books You Should Read at 11.30am, this year with Bryan Dobson & Cecelia Ahern, moderated by broadcaster and journalist, Ciana Campbell.
Another Festival favourite, Debut Novelists with Elaine Garvey, Shane Tivenan and Claire Gleeson takes place in glór where the authors will be in conversation with Eoin Devereux. Beyond Borders Book Club showcases great writing from countries beyond Ireland and this year features Cecilia Brizuela, Aneta Stepien and Mercedes Verona in conversation with Sarah Clancy at the Temple Gate Hotel.
In an event titled Climate Fiction, Abi Daré, winner of the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize 2025 and Caoilinn Hughes, a New York Times Editor’s Choice author chat with editor of The Moth, Will Govan at 4pm. Nell McCafferty will be remembered in a special event taking place in glór with Rosita Sweetman, Muire McCallion, (Nell’s niece) & Ailbhe Smyth.
Clare Youth Theatre present The Freedom to Read is the Liberation of the Spirit, a site-specific performance in de Valera Library, exploring free access to books and the role of libraries. Historical fiction lets us explore the human side of history, bringing the past alive through vivid detail, rich characters, and emotional depth and the genre is explored by authors Andrew Miller, Sarah Waters & Nuala O’Connor in conversation with Juliana Adelman in The Temple Gate Hotel.
Anne Enright is the headline act for the 8pm event in glór where she will explore her writing life and latest work in a wide-ranging conversation with Niamh Campbell.
An early start on the closing day begins with Hush Hour in Sweet ‘n’ Green, a reading party that redefines social gatherings for book lovers followed Sunday Miscellany in glór..
Another highlight of Sunday’s events is the Literary Lunch, featuring Dr Marie Cassidy taking place in The Old Ground Hotel. This promises to be a fascinating encounter as Marie will be in conversation with fellow crime novelist Catherine Kirwan.
As always, there are lots of other terrific events taking place across the festival weekend including the beloved Books n ‘ Bun’s event on Saturday morning, testing your knowledge of all things literary and fascinating Walking Tours with Jane O’Brien.
Festival hosted events for children and teenagers will take place in glór and include Alex Dunne in conversation with Sarah Moore Fitzgerald for primary school goers and a Talk on the work of Seamus Heaney for leaving cert cycle students with Gillian Chute. On Saturday, the Festival will host Interactive Writing Workshop for Children with Alex Dunne & Laura Keohane for children age 9-12.
Ennis Book Club Festival, in association with Clare Libraries, also features an extensive programme for younger readers, with readings and workshops with young adult authors, facilitators and visual artists. Events taking place as part of Teen Week include Word Power with Deirdre Devally; Fighting Words Workshop for Teens; Kel Menton in an interactive writing class; Eco Soap Making with Aoife Munn and a poetry workshop with Winner of the An Post Teen & Young Adult Book of the Year 2025, Grainne O’Brien all taking place in De Valera Library, Ennis and Seán Lemass Library, Shannon.
Commenting on the 2026 programme, Artistic Director Martina Durac notes, ‘It is a huge pleasure to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the festival in 2026. When a passionate group of book lovers first started dreaming of a way to bring book clubs together with writers, they lit a hopeful spark. Since then, we’ve welcomed writers and readers from all over the world to Ennis. We are proud of all that the first volunteers achieved, and each year seek to build on it and offer engaging, insightful and hopefully, surprising ways of bringing the written word to our flourishing audiences”.
