(Foireann Gaeltachta The Journal a chuir an scéal seo ar fáil. Tá leagan as Gaeilge anseo.)

BOB DYLAN, TAYLOR Swift, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and, now, Phoebe Bridgers. These are some of the world renowned singers whose works have featured in shows conceived and produced by the Dublin based Irish language literary festival Imram.

The shows feature prominent Irish language singers performing versions of the most famous songs translated into Irish by leading Irish poets.   The series started with Bob Dylan and now Kerry based Dairena Ní Chinnéide and Caitríona Ní Chléirchín from Monaghan have translated some of Phoebe Bridgers’ hits.   

Belfast singer Aoibha is to perform the works alongside multi-media presentations prepared by Margaret Longergan in a show entitled Moon Songs, The Phoebe Bridgers Project on 22 November at the Smock Alley Theatre. 

Imram, which began in 2004, will be kicking off the latest edition of the festival, which aims to put Irish language literature at the heart of public life in Ireland, this Saturday.

The event that night will feature an evening of poetry and music with Louis de Paor reciting from his collection, ‘Cé A Mharaigh Emma Ní Mhathúna’ and Máire Dinny Wren reading from her work ‘I Muinín na nDúl’. Macdara Ó Faoláin, young musician of the year at the TG4 Music Awards last year, will be performing on the night.

Returning to Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers, Imram director Liam Carson believes that such initiatives are attracting new audiences to the Irish language.

“At the Taylor Swift initiative last year we filled the Pavillion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire two nights in a row,” he said.

According to Liam, who is himself renowned for his poetry, the large crowd of young people who came out to support Catherine Connolly’s election campaign on behalf of her Irish language was evidence of the interest in the language that has been awakened among them.

“There was a much younger crowd out there, they are not ashamed to speak in Irish, they are proud of Gaeilge many of them were in their twenties.

“You see Kneecap, on the festival programme this year we have an Irish hip hop night, we will have poets such as Séamus Barra Ó Súilleabháin, Ciara Ní É and Julie Goo.”

While people might imagine there is little connection between Irish language versions of songs by music stars in the English language or Irish language hip hop and literature, Carson is of the opinion that the Irish language renditions of songs by Dylan, Swift and Bridger are examples of new literature and art in themselves and that this and hip hop are attracting young people to the festival.

Another question is whether this is creating more readers for Irish literature, he admitted.

‘There are people with Irish and you know they may not be reading Irish books but the seed has been planted because there are a lot more people speaking Irish.”

A variety of events are being held during the festival which will take place between this Saturday and the end of the month. Among the highlights, Professor Michael Cronin will be interviewing writer, poet and young adult author, Áine Ní Ghlinn at an event in Books Upstairs on Monday, 17 November.

Another event worth noting in the diary is an evening dedicated to the old woman. Imram has asked Dhairena Ní Chinnéide, Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha, Eithne Ní Ghallchobhair and Scottish poet Caitrìona Lexy Campbell to commission new poetry in honour of the old woman. The Conallach singer, Rois, will be performing at the event and there will also be a multimedia exhibition by Margaret Lonergan at the event which will be held at 19 Dawson Street on Tuesday, 18 November.

The multimedia displays greatly enhance the effectiveness of these special performances as the audience is able to follow the literature and in the case of the Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers evenings, sing along.

A series of lectures in English are also being given during Imram to give a wider audience an insight into Irish language literature and among these lectures will be a talk by Irish language novelist and columnist, Alan Titley, entitled ‘Neither Shillelaghs nor Shamrock – the other Irish novel’.

The Titley says that over 300 Irish language novels have been published since the publication of Séadna by Father Peadar Ó Laoghaire at the end of the 19th century and at his lecture in the Lexicon Library on Wednesday, 19 November at 10am, he will be giving his review of these books as they would have been in his time and through the eyes of the reader today.

Full information about Imram, which will take place in various venues around Dublin between 8-23 November, can be found on the website.