Ever get tired of those bookshelves of yours bursting with unread books that you just can’t get excited about reading?
At least once a year, I fall into the book doldrums. It’s a reading lethargy that writers will identify with, because it very much resembles writers’ block. It’s where you can’t get inspired or motivated to read books, and I hate when this happens, because I’ve loved reading books since I first learned how to read.
I was in the reading doldrums early this winter when my sister threw me a surprise offer: would I like to go to Ireland with her for a week at the end of February? It took me less than two hours to decide I would be on that airplane with her to a country I’ve never visited before but always wanted to see.
To ramp up my excitement about the trip, I spent the eight weeks before our departure reading books by and about Irish writers. It gave me a good start on the overwhelming (but delicious!) treasure trove of Irish literature, though I was about to discover so much more of it in Ireland, particularly Dublin. The city is, after all, a UNESCO City of Literature, only one of 28 such designated cities in the world. What better city for lovers of literature to spend time in than Dublin?
So what makes Dublin so special for readers and writers? Many, many things. Like a good Irish stout stew, Dublin is brimming with history, politics, culture. It’s gritty, with its dockworks and industry (Guinness is a massive industry in Dublin), its working poor, but it’s also very much a world of academia and creativity. Writers, intellectuals, artists, musicians all seem to find Dublin a homing beacon. You can’t go anywhere along the narrow cobble streets without stumbling across a statue or a plaque paying homage to famous Irish writers. Just as you also can’t walk a city block without reminders of the blood that was shed in Dublin during the Easter Rising of 1916, the war for independence and the subsequent civil war of the 1920s that resulted in Irish independence.
The Irish are a very proud people. They lived under the boot of invaders for many centuries, and yet from all that oppression emerged a fierce resolve to not only survive, but to never forget the true heart of the country. Its identity. Writers (and storytellers) kept Irish history, Irish culture alive all those centuries. And many of those successful writers went on to share their love of all things Irish with the rest of the world. There is much to inspire the writer in all of us, but if reading books is your jam, you will love Dublin.
There are numerous literary tours you can take, some privately organized. There’s even a Literary Pub Crawl on weekend evenings (my sister and I didn’t get to do this because we were only in the city for a couple of weeknights). There’s the famous Trinity College Library with its Long Room and the Book of Kells (as amazing as you might imagine). There’s the Dublin Museum of Literature and the National Library of Ireland. At Merrion Square, you can see Oscar Wilde’s statue reclining on a rock, looking off in the direction of his birthplace on Westland Row. I love that there are plaques on the exterior walls of homes where famous writers once lived, because it reminds me that they actually lived and walked these narrow streets.
Before my trip I was already well aware of famous Irish authors such as W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett, Iris Murdoch, Bram Stoker. Now I’ve discovered so many more —contemporary ones like William Trevor (I never really liked books of short stories until I found him!), Lisa McInerney, Sebastian Barry, Roddy Doyle, Donal Ryan. My to-read pile has quadrupled! Because… I forgot to mention sooner, there are TONS of bookstores in Dublin, most of them independent, so leave extra space in your suitcase.
If you’ve never before considered a “books vacation” or “readers vacation”, you can’t go wrong with putting Dublin at the top of your list.
