Rabat — The Embassy of Ireland in Rabat, in partnership with the Delegation of the European Union in Morocco, will host a literary cafe featuring Northern Irish author Lucy Caldwell on September 10.
The event is being held as part of the celebrations surrounding the Salon International de l’Édition et du Livre (SIEL) and Rabat World Book Capital 2026.
The literary cafe is the second event of its kind hosted by the Irish Embassy and takes place during Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Under the theme “The Places We Carry: Memory, Identity and Belonging in Literature,” the evening will explore the ways places, memories and personal experiences shape literary stories and our sense of belonging.
An Evening with Lucy Caldwell
The event will celebrate Caldwell’s novels and short stories, offering audiences an opportunity to discover her work and hear her discuss some of the themes that run throughout her writing.
Her 2022 novel “These Days,” which won the 2023 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, follows two sisters as they navigate four nights of bombing during the Belfast Blitz.
Her short-story collection “Openings” brings together thirteen stories set across different places and moments, from Blitz-era London and Belfast to Marrakech. The collection explores different emotions and the moments that can change the course of a life, while continuing Caldwell’s exploration of the contemporary female experience.
“Devotions,” Lucy’s most recent short stories collection, explores themes of longing, memory and the pull between distant pasts and uncertain futures.
From Belfast to an International Audience
Born in Belfast in 1981, Lucy Caldwell is the author of four novels, several stage plays and radio dramas, as well as three collections of short stories.
Her work has received numerous awards, including the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the George Devine Award, the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Imison Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award and the Commonwealth Writers’ Award for Canada and Europe.
In 2018, Caldwell was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She is also the editor of “Being Various: New Irish Short Stories” and leads a masterclass series on short-story writing for the Faber Academy.
Through this literary evening, the Embassy of Ireland in Rabat offers readers in Morocco a chance to engage with one of Ireland’s contemporary literary voices while exploring the connections between literature, memory and belonging.
