How well do we really know our mother tongues? 

In two of the most inventive, playful, and visionary works of recent years, Eley Williams’ The Liar’s Dictionary worries at the institutions that seek to corral both spoken and written word, while Harry Josephine GilesDeep Wheel Orcadia transposes the minoritised Orkney dialect into a world of deep space rigs, lost civilisations, and earth-shaking mystery. Join two fabulous writers as they discuss their debut novels on the Cúirt stage.

Eley Williams’ collection of short stories Attrib (Influx Press, 2017) was awarded the Republic of Consciousness Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2018. Her debut novel, The Liar’s Dictionary, was a national US bestseller and a Guardian Book of the Year.

Harry Josephine Giles is a poet, theatre-maker, and performer from Orkney, now living in Leith. After Tonguit (Stewed Rhubarb) and The Games (OutSpoken), her third poetry book, Deep Wheel Orcadia, is a science-fiction verse-novel written in the Orkney dialect, and is a Poetry Book Society Selection for Winter 2021.

In partnership with the Desmond Elliott Prize and Scotland House.

Event Location

An Taibhdhearc

19 Middle St, Galway, H91 RX76

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The main auditorium is step free, and there are accessible toilet facilities. There are two accessible parking spaces either end of Middle Street and three spaces on Saint Augustine Street opposite. There is a Loop system. HEPA filter will be in use