Actor Gabriel Byrne and authors Edna O’Brien and Roddy Doyle have expressed concern over developments at Listowel Writers’ Week.
They’re part a group of 16 authors who have warned that the disbandment of the festival’s voluntary committee risks squandering the goodwill of writers.
The letter published in The Irish Times says these volunteers have enriched the festival experience and that this community-based spirit is what made Listowel Writers’ Week unique.
The writers call for the immediate reinstatement of the voluntary committee and ask that a dialogue be opened between all parties concerned before irreparable damage has been done.
The voluntary committee was disbanded after an independent consultant Dermot McLaughlin presented his report which recommended a restructuring of the festival’s organisational structure.
Chair of Listowel Writers’ Week, Catherine Moylan, says before the drafting of the report every committee member was given an opportunity to meet and engage with Mr McLaughlin.
Ms Moylan says it was a condition of the festival’s Arts Council funding that the board would engage an independent consultant.
She says the report highlighted a negative culture which threatened the festival’s funding and viability.
She says committee members are welcome to contribute to the festival.
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/2022/11/22/listowel-writers-week-dialogue-needed/
