Festival of Italian and Irish Literature in Ireland
Fourth Edition – ‘Literature as Resistance’
25-26 September 2026, Dublin
The Festival of Italian and Irish Literature in Ireland (FIILI) is an initiative of the Italian Institute of Culture in Dublin, the FIILI Association, Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann and Trinity College Dublin (part-funded from the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Events Fund). It is supported by Literature Ireland, Foras na Gaeilge, the Society for Italian Studies, the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation and the Irish Writers’ Centre.
FIILI – a nod to ‘poet’ in Irish and the ‘thread of the story’ in Italian – ‘filo narrativo’ – brings together a host of fascinating contemporary writers.
This September sees the fourth edition of FIILI, dedicated to the theme Literature as Resistance. We are delighted to welcome to Dublin so many outstanding writers, translators and poets from both countries. This edition also features live simultaneous interpretation in Italian, English, and Gaelic — making the event accessible to everyone.
Co-organised by Michela Linda Magri, Director of the Italian Institute of Culture, and authors & co-curators Catherine Dunne (Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann) and Enrica Ferrara (Trinity College Dublin), the festival will highlight the work of Italian poets and writers Laura Pugno, Daria Bignardi, Giuseppe Catozzella, Viviana Fiorentino, Antonella Lattanzi, Tommaso Pincio, and Nadeesha Uyangoda. Irish writers and poets in conversation are Michael Cronin, Martina Devlin, Martin Doyle, Wendy Erskine, Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh, Gustav Parker Hibbett, Caitríona Lally, Paul McVeigh and Paul Murray.
This year, FIILI will also host a Masterclass in Translation, facilitated by award-winning translator Sophie Hughes, and a Masterclass in Creative Writing, facilitated by award-winning writer Paul McVeigh. Booking for each Masterclass is via Eventbrite and places are limited:
Seeking Perfection Masterclass in Literary Translation with Sophie Hughes
What’s The Big Idea? Masterclass in Creative Writing with Paul McVeigh
On the 25th September, acclaimed translators Tommaso Pincio and Sophie Hughes will discuss Translation as Resistance with James Hadley (Trinity College Dublin) at the Italian Institute of Culture. This will be followed by the Opening Night Reading Session during which Italian and Irish guests will read extracts from their recent work.
On Saturday 26th September, panels will be moderated by Sinéad Mac Aodha (Literature Ireland), Michael Cronin (Trinity College Dublin), Claudia Dellacasa (University of Glasgow), Viviana Fiorentino (Queen’s University Belfast), and co-curators Catherine Dunne (Irish PEN /PEN na hÉireann) and Enrica Ferrara (Trinity College Dublin). Panels will take place at Regent House, TCD, and simultaneous translation Italian-English-Gaelic will be provided.
Admission to the Festival is free but registration is recommended on Eventbrite for Saturday 26th.
Further details at:
Festival Venues:
25 September 2026: Italian Cultural Institute, Dublin, 11 Fitzwilliam Sq. East, Dublin 2
26 September 2026: Regent House, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2
