Cúirt International Festival of Literature: Show must go on

Sasha de Buyl was raised in West Cork and this is her first year as director of the Cúirt festival of literature.

When the virus seemed to scupper plans for the Cúirt festival, Cork woman Sasha de Buyl was determined to find a way to put it on, writes Eoghan O’Sullivan

Founded in 1985, Cúirt International Festival of Literature was to be even bigger than usual this year as part of Galway’s reign as the European Capital of Culture. The likes of Anne Enright, Kate Tempest, and UK poet laureate Simon Armitage were all set to descend on the festival. But then Covid-19 restrictions began to kick in, and the organisers began to realise the event was in jeopardy.