C.S. Lewis Festival To Enchant East Belfast

A festival celebrating the life and work of one of Northern Ireland's most famous writers, C.S. Lewis, is to be held in the author's birthplace of east Belfast.

A colourful week of song, drama, performance, readings, recitals, talks, tours and family events will be held across the east of the city and beyond.

The inaugural C.S. Lewis Festival, which takes place from 18-23 November 2013, has been funded by Belfast City Council and marks the 50th anniversary of the death of the renowned author, who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia.

Festival Organiser Wendy Langham said: "C.S. Lewis is one of those figures that everybody has heard of, but perhaps few realise that he was born, and for a time, was schooled in east Belfast. On the 50th anniversary of his death, the C.S. Lewis Festival seeks to discover and celebrate those connections and invite people to come on a journey with us across the east, and hopefully have a lot of fun in the process!"

Among the highlights of the C.S. Lewis Festival will be Lewis by Lamplight, a tour around the grounds of Campbell College, the famous old school that Lewis attended in 1910.

A new C.S. Lewis Trail will be launched during the festival that will transport the public through Lewis’s east Belfast and the landmarks that helped shaped the young writer's life and work.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Lewis’ death, and on the day that he becomes the first Belfast writer to be placed in Westminster Abbey’s Poets Corner, the C.S. Lewis Festival is will present Belfast’s Poet Laureate, Sinead Morrisey, hosting a reading by four of local writers Glenn Patterson, Michael Longley, Ciaran Carson and Leontia Flynn.

Belfast Lord Mayor, Councillor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir said: "This fantastic programme of events is a great way to celebrate the life of one of Belfast’s greatest sons. C.S. Lewis is recognised as one of the most talented authors in the world and has brought our city international acclaim."

(IT/CD)