Rob Doyle travelled to Belgrade, Serbia to become the inaugural Writer-in-Residence at the Belgrade Irish Festival. The residency is a three-way partnership between Literature Ireland, the Belgrade Irish Festival (Directed by Jas Kaminski), and the Krokodil Creative Centre (Directed by Vladimir Arsenijević). The residency provides an Irish writer with an opportunity to spend time thinking and writing while exploring the multicultural city of Belgrade. The timing of the residency, coinciding with the festival, offers a chance to participate fully in the life and culture of this vibrant and dynamic city. This is a key opportunity to meet with local and international writers and artists.
Speaking of his appointment, Rob Doyle said: “I am delighted and honoured to be invited on this residency, and very much excited for what will be my first visit to Belgrade.”
Sinéad Mac Aodha, Director of Literature Ireland, said, “This new residency will offer Irish writers the chance to engage with the rich cultural offerings of the city of Belgrade, one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world. We are confident that writer Rob Doyle will benefit hugely from this opportunity, and look forward to building other cross-cultural exchanges in the years to come.”
The Belgrade Irish Festival takes place March 8 - 18, 2024.
A message from Rob Doyle:
"I’m here in Belgrade for a month as the B.I.F.’s writer in residence: it’s my first time in the city and my first time in Serbia. I’m planning to attend virtually every event on the festival programme, wonderfully rich as it is, with plenty of musical-literary-cinematic overlap (and some theatre too!). In the meantime I’ve been seizing the opportunity to walk and cycle around Belgrade, taking it all in — the Yugo-era architecture and the pleasingly rich cuisine, the Danube and the Sava, the pedestrianised streets of the Old Town and the tower blocks of New Belgrade. On 16th March at Krokodil Writers Centre I’ll be reading from my work — perhaps from the deranged and deranging novel I’ve come here to work on, perhaps from my previous books which include my debut novel Here Are the Young Men (set in Dublin and recently adapted for film) and the autobiographical Threshold (set all over the place and totally unfilmable). My reading will be followed by a conversation about writing, literature, Europe East and West, and no doubt other topics too. I’ll be particularly intrigued to meet and hear from any local writers who might be attending, and I look forward to a fruitful meeting of perspectives. I hope to see you there!"
Photo: Katie Freeney
Posted to on 7 Mar 2024.