Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School announces an Interview with Fergal Keane

THE second Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School takes place from September 18th-22^nd 2024 in the Thomas MacDonagh Museum in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary. The theme for this year’s Hedge School programme is “Revival and Rebellion: Politics and the Arts – Ireland in Review”

The Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School is thrilled to announce that Fergal Keane, BBC Africa Editor, award winning broadcaster and best-selling author, will be interviewed by Professor Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, course director of the University of Limerick’s MA in Creative Writing in University, literacy advocate and novelist.

Fergal will share his personal perspectives on his love of literature, music and poetry on Saturday September 21^st at 2pm. Their discussion will also explore how the arts have informed Fergal Keane’s approach to his 40 year career, and if or how, in his view, the arts contribute to political debate, or are a salve in troubled times.

Hedge School organiser Una Johnston suggests the programme “will be of great interest to anyone interested in both cultural history and contemporary arts and will include academics, writers and artists reflecting on the themes of politics and the arts from the troubled years of The Irish Review’s existence to the present day.

Fergal Keane was born in London and educated in Ireland. He is one of the BBC's most distinguished correspondents and an award-winning broadcaster and author. He has reported for the corporation from Northern Ireland, South Africa, Asia and the Balkans. He has been awarded a BAFTA, been named reporter of the year on television and radio, winning honours from the Royal Television Society and the Sony Radio Awards, most recently for his Radio 4 series ‘Taking a Stand’. Keane has won the George Orwell prize for literature, the James Cameron Prize and the Edward R. Murrow Award from the US Overseas Press Association. He is the author of a number of bestselling books including ‘Letter to Daniel’ and his memoir ‘All of These People.’ He lives in London with his wife and two children.

Professor Sarah Moore Fitzgerald is course director of the University of Limerick’s MA in Creative Writing, a literacy advocate and award winning novelist. Her published academic work focuses on areas such as academic writing, pedagogy and creativity. Sarah’s fiction has been translated into over twenty different languages, and shortlisted for literary awards including The Waterstones Prize, The Irish Book Awards, The Jack Harte Bursary and the Calderdale Prize.

Ticketing – A limited number of tickets at €35 are available now from Eventbrite https://ThomasMacDonaghHedgeSchool2024.eventbrite.ie

Thomas MacDonagh Museum has received funding for the Hedge School as part of the Creative Ireland programme with support from Tipperary County Council.