Berlin’s Irish Embassy Welcomes Brigidfest 2026
Irish female writers are on tour in Germany with the Irish Embassy
January 16th, 2026
On the 6th of February 2026 (from 6pm to 8pm), the Irish Embassy in Berlin will host the annual and renowned Irish literary festival Bridgidsfest with the collaboration of Literature Ireland.
Since the inaugural ‘Brigid Meets Berlin’ event in 2019 the festival has continued to grow. Building on this success, the 2026 edition will see participating authors embark on a multi-city tour for the first time. Beginning at the Consulate General of Ireland in Munich, the writers will continue to the Consulate General in Frankfurt before concluding at the Embassy of Ireland in Berlin, where they will present and discuss their latest publications.
The Brigidsfest tour will take place from the 3rd to the 6th of February and will feature distinguished authors Vona Groarke, Wendy Erskine, Cathy Sweeney, Katriona O’Sullivan and Patricia Forde.
The Berlin event will welcome the three following writers:
Cathy Sweeney is a Dublin-born writer. Her debut short story collection Modern Times was published in 2020 by The Stinging Fly Press and W&N, and has since appeared in translation, including Italian. Her first novel, Breakdown, was released by W&N in 2024 and is now published in Dutch, with a German edition forthcoming from Dörlemann Verlag. She is represented by RCW and supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.
Vona Groarke is an award-winning Irish poet and the author of fifteen books, including nine collections with The Gallery Press. Her most recent volume, Infinity Pool, was shortlisted for the 2025 T.S. Eliot Prize.
Her poetic non-fiction work, Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O’Hara, developed during her Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library, received the 2024 Michel Déon Prize. Her Selected Poems won the 2017 Piggott Prize.
A member of Aosdána and the Royal Society of Literature, she is a former editor of Poetry Ireland Review and poetry critic for The Irish Times. She is currently Writer in Residence at St John’s College, Cambridge, and has been appointed Ireland Professor of Poetry for 2025–28.
Wendy Erskine is a Northern Irish writer and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her debut short story collection Sweet Home (2018), published by Stinging Fly and Picador, was longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award. Her second collection, Dance Move (2022), also with The Stinging Fly Press and Picador, was named a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime and received the Edge Hill Readers’ Choice Award.
Her debut novel, The Benefactors (Sceptre, 2025), shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards, examines themes of class, wealth and status. She continues to teach English at secondary level alongside her writing.
When: February 6th, 2026, from 18:00 to 20:00
Where: Irish Embassy, Jägerstr. 51, 10117 Berlin
