The 2025 line-up for one of this island’s longest running literary festivals has been revealed…
The John Hewitt International Summer School – now in its 38th year – will take place from Monday 28 July to Saturday 2 August at the Marketplace Theatre Armagh.
The week-long programme of events features celebrated speakers, writers and performers across literature, poetry, art, drama, music, and politics. From avid readers to aspiring writers, published writer seeking inspiration, or simply lovers of literature and the arts, there’s something for everyone.
The theme of this year’s John Hewitt Summer School is: “Our country also: difference and belonging”.
John Hewitt recognised that “our country” belonged to successive waves of migrants: not only his historical “Kelt, Briton, Roman, Saxon, Dane, and Scot,” but those forced to find new lives in our time by a century’s wars and the collapse of an empire whose wealth was built on exploitation of the “colonies” that many of today’s immigrants once knew as “home.” Not a question of who belongs “here,” but of who “here” belongs to.
The John Hewitt Summer School is curated and produced annually by the John Hewitt Society, dedicated to promoting Literature, Culture and the Arts inspired by the ideas and ideals of the Belfast poet, curator, critic and political thinker John Hewitt (1907 – 1957).
Speaking at this week’s launch in Armagh, Chair of John Hewitt Society Frank Ferguson commented:
“It is fantastic to look forward to the John Hewitt International Summer School which will be held at the Marketplace Theatre in the wonderful city of Armagh in July.
This theatre and city provide an amazing backdrop for ideas, poems, songs, discussions and performances to flourish. We look forward to meeting up with friends old and new and celebrating the interests, ideals and enthusiasms of John Hewitt. We also are very excited to cultivate new writing and writers through our bursary schemes and that this work and people will go on to build and strengthen individuals, networks and communities.”
The JHISS25 opening talk, entitled “Northern Ireland is Finished?” will be delivered by Professor Peter Shirlow, Blair Chair and Head of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool. Other speakers include Takura Donald Makoni on “Integration Integration Integration”, Professor Jennifer Todd asking “When Does Identity Change Matter?” and Dr Frank Ferguson with the annual John Hewitt Talk: “The Thistles and The Sheeves”: The Significance of Roberta Hewitt”.
Armagh writer, Stuart Neville will host our Crime Fiction Special with internationally acclaimed authors Ian Rankin and Jane Casey.
Other celebrated authors featured this year include David Park in conversation with Hugh Odling-Smee, Cauvery Madhavan in conversation with Maureen Boyle, Donal Ryan in conversation with Jan Carson, Wendy Erskine in conversation with Alexander Poots and Tessa Hadley in Conversation with Bernie McGill. In our Dazzling Debuts event, Garrett Carr and Roisín O’Donnell will be in conversation with Jan Carson and we celebrate the book launch of Doreen McBride’s “The A-Z of Curious Northern Ireland”.
In association with Irish PEN/ PEN na hÉreann, The John Hewitt Summer School presents “Looking at Women, Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary”
Written by the late Ukrainian novelist and activist Victoria Amelina with Guest Speaker: Yaryna Grusha.
The strong poetry programme lineup includes Kathleen McCracken, Milena Williamson, Dane Holt and Mai Ishikawa, Hannah Copley and Gustav Parker Hibbett, Vona Groarke, Polina Cosgrave and Kelly Michels. Our event “A Tribute to Michael” celebrates the life and work of the great and much missed Michael Longley featuring a talk “‘Beautiful Things are Difficult’: Michael Longley as Master Craftsman” by Dr Florence Impens and a reading of Michael Longley poems by Gail McConnell.
Malachi O’Doherty will be in conversation with award-winning journalist and photographer Sally Hayden as she discusses her debut book “My Fourth Time, We Drowned”
A bumper programme of evening entertainment at the Summer School includes the acclaimed “Lisdoon Nirvana” – a one-man show with actor Frankie McCafferty, an open mic special celebrating the verse of the late, great Paul Durcan, a panel discussion “Our Country Also: Difference and Belonging” with Lata Sharma, David Adams, Aleksandra Łojek and Malachi O’Doherty (Host), Bewley Café Theatre presents “Grace” from James Joyce’s “Dubliners”, performed by Terry O’Neill and Directed by Michael James Ford. There is a very special panel event Beyond Traditional Routes: Independent Publishing, the Summer School Connection and the John Hewitt Legacy with Jane Buckley, Angeline King, James Simpson and Sue Divin (Host) – bringing together writers whose stories intersect at the John Hewitt International Summer School. And we invite you to join folk singers Jane Cassidy and Maurice Leyden as they celebrate the life of Mary Ann McCracken in story and song.
The John Hewitt Summer School also boasts an array of excellent Creative Writing Classes (three of which are supported by The Open University) helping to develop new generations of aspiring writers, some of whom will give readings during a showcase event at the end of the Summer School.
The John Hewitt Visual Arts programme features “Stone Mirror” by Pádraig Mac Cana – an exhibition of new works that interchanges between external events, forces, observations and the inner life of experiences and memories. “Thin Place” by Bob Speers refers to the veil between the physical and the transcendental appears permeable or “thin,” a mystical space where the boundary between our tangible world and the unseen world seem to touch. This year’s John Hewitt Visual Arts Talk is “F. E. McWilliam: An Inventor of Styles” with gallery curator Jason Diamond
Our good friends at No Alibis Bookstore, Belfast will again provide their now familiar pop-up book stall during the week with the latest books by all the featured writers on sale. Receptions during the week are supported by the North South Ministerial Council and the Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge, and Craigavon Borough Council.
As in previous years, our Summer School has offered bursaries to enable a wide range of people to attend and appreciate this unique festival. Sponsored Bursaries are supported by Local Government Authorities, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs: Reconciliation Department, the Community Relations Council, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, individual and corporate organisations.
All of this is made possible through the partnership and assistance of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, The Open University, Irish Association, Slugger O’Toole, No Alibis Bookstore, Ulster University, The Ulster Scots Agency, advertisers, local traders and volunteers.
All of this generous support is much appreciated by the John Hewitt Society especially in these challenging times for the arts.
Full details of the programme are available online at johnhewittsociety.org or at, visitarmagh.com/marketplacetheatre.
Tickets can be purchased from the Market Place Theatre box office on 0330 056 1025, by email, in person or online at the above websites.