I am really excited to be teaming up with Marcel Krueger again to discuss borders visible and invisible with Dr Andy Davies of the University of Liverpool as part of the fantastic Writing on the Wall Festival in Liverpool on Tuesday 15th May. Both Marcel and I have long had an interest in borders, how they shift and how they shape our perception of place and history. We will be talking not only about our respective books, but also (no doubt) Marcel’s corridor project in Ireland and both our explorations of the Berlin Wall trail here in Berlin.

I can’t wait to get back over to Liverpool, and you can find out more information about the event, including tickets, venue and all the important stuff, here on the Writing on the Wall festival website. And if you are within striking distance of Liverpool, check out the rest of the programme, as there are loads of great events going on.

It is extremely exciting to announce a series of events taking place on either side of the Irish Sea during November 2017.

November 1st – Bangor University
Journeys through Memory: The German Baltic and the Berlin Wall

I will be talking to Dr Anne Saunders about the German Baltic and the Berlin Wall at an event that is free and open to all on Wednesday 1 November at 2pm. We will be talking about the writing of both Ghosts on the Shore and Mauerweg (co-written with Paul Sullivan). I will be reading from both books and there will be a Q&A.

Event poster

November 21st – The Winding Stair, Dublin
Journeys through Memory: The German Baltic and countries that no longer exist
with Marcel Kreuger

Marcel is the author of the upcoming Babushka’s Journey and we will both be reading from our books, talking about our travels through central and eastern Europe and discussing the related themes in Babushka’s Journey and Ghosts on the Shore, from family memory to how we tell the stories of the past.

Event Facebook page

November 22nd – Spirit Store, Dundalk
the corridor no.3 – Borders, Walking and Writing
with Evelyn Conlon, Garrett Carr & Marcel Krueger

I am really pleased to have been invited to take part in the third event as part of the new multidisciplinary arts project in Ireland exploring “the corridor” between Dublin and Belfast. I will be talking about the importance of borders and how we explore them in our writing with novelist and short story writer Evelyn Conlon, my good friend and fellow walker-writer Marcel Krueger, and Garrett Car, author of The Rule of the Land: Walking Ireland’s Border.

Event info on the corridor website

November 23rd – No Alibis, Belfast
Journeys through Memory: The German Baltic and countries that no longer exist
with Marcel Kreuger

Marcel and I will bringing our discussion from Tuesday in Dublin to Belfast on Thursday (via our Dundalk interlude along the corridor) at the ever-wonderful No Alibis bookshop. We will once more be talking about both our books as well as giving a reading and answering (hopefully interestingly) any questions you might have.

Event Facebook page

On Friday 24th November, I will be sleeping.

I hope to see some of you in Bangor, Dublin, Dundalk or Belfast in November… hopefully there will be some more events to announce soon…

Paul