09 June 2024

AN EVENING WITH MARGARET ATWOOD, MARY ROBINSON AND LAURIE ANDERSON.

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€31.50

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Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas presents AN EVENING WITH MARGARET ATWOOD, MARY ROBINSON AND LAURIE ANDERSON in conversation with John Kelly

SPECIAL EFFECTS: This production may contain Strobe Lighting, Flashing Lights, Smoke and Haze.

AGE GUIDANCE: Under 16’s must be accompanied by and seated next to a parent/guardian aged 18+.

No under 3’s permitted in the auditorium.

*Performance schedule and times are subject to change and may be affected by illness or events beyond the producers’ or venues’ control.

Performers, dates, times, prices, and fees are subject to change without notice.

Three extraordinary women – one of the greatest voices of contemporary literature; Ireland’s first woman President and advocate for sustainable global development; and one of America’s most engaging and daring creative pioneers – confront some of the most urgent questions of today.

Broadcaster and writer John Kelly will interview writer Margaret Atwood about her work, before being joined on stage by Chair of the Elders Mary Robinson, and then musician and artist Laurie Anderson.

MARGARET ATWOOD is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. Her novels include Cat’s Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin, and the Maddaddam trilogy. Her 1985 classic, The Handmaid’s Tale, was followed in 2019 by a sequel, The Testaments, which was a global number one bestseller and won the Booker Prize. In 2020 she published Dearly, her first collection of poetry in a decade, followed in 2022 with Burning Questions, a selection of essays from 2004 – 2021. Her next collection of short stories, Old Babes in the Wood was published in March 2023. Atwood has won numerous awards, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

MARY ROBINSON is Adjunct Professor for Climate Justice in Trinity College Dublin and Chair of The Elders. She served as President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. She is a member of the Club of Madrid and the recipient of numerous honours and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the President of the United States Barack Obama. Between 2013 and 2016 Mary served as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy in three roles; first for the Great Lakes region of Africa, then on Climate Change leading up to the Paris Agreement and in 2016 as his Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate.

LAURIE ANDERSON is a writer, director, composer, visual artist, musician and vocalist who has created groundbreaking works that span the worlds of art, theater, experimental music, and technology. Her recording career was launched by O Superman in 1981. Anderson’s live shows range from simple spoken word to expansive multimedia stage performances. In 2002, Anderson was appointed the first artist-in-residence of NASA. As a performer and musician, she has collaborated with many people including Brian Eno, Jean-Michel Jarre, William S. Burroughs, Peter Gabriel, Robert Wilson, Christian McBride and Philip Glass. Anderson has published ten books and been nominated for five Grammys throughout her recording career with Warner Records and Nonesuch.