The line up for the 25th Kate O'Brien Weekend is confirmed Limerick, 27th February - 1st March, 2009

The Kate O'Brien Weekend kicks off the 2009 Spring Calendar of literary events on Friday, February 27th. This is the 25th Anniversary of the Weekend and some of Ireland's best writers will come here to Limerick to celebrate a major achievement by the committee in keeping the name and memory of Kate O'Brien alive.

The weekend programme includes novelists, poets, political writers and commentators including, John Banville, Dermot Bolger, Gabriel Fitzmaurice, Lia Mills, Melissa Murray, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, Robert O'Byrne and Glenn Patterson and the Soprano, Sylvia O'Brien

The weekend will be launched in City Hall by Margaret McCurtain who is a distinguished historian with an internationally acclaimed academic career. Her scholarship and inspirational teaching have been recognised with many honours and awards.

This will be followed by As Music and Splendour…, a concert recital by Sylvia O'Brien, with Collette Davis accompanist. Recently the Irish Times said of Sylvia O'Brien 'best of all was the beautifully shaped and timed singing of soprano Sylvia O'Brien ( Martin Adams Irish Times)

Gabriel Fitzmaurice, poet, is no stranger to Limerick audiences. He has recently retired from his role as school principal in Moyvane, Co. Kerry where he has taught since 1975. His book of poetry Twenty One Sonnets, illustrated by his wife, was launched last year in Limerick.

Lia Mills was born in Dublin in 1957. Her novels are Another Alice (Poolbeg, 1996); and Nothing Simple (Penguin Ireland, 2005).. As well as critical articles and short stories, she has also published In Your Face: One Woman's Encounter with Cancer, Doctors, Nurses, Machines, Family, Friends, and a Few Enemies (Penguin Ireland, 2007), an autobiographical account of cancer. She lives in Dublin.

Glenn Patterson is a native of Belfast, and studied creative writing at the University of East Anglia. His first novel Burning Your Own won a Betty Trask Award and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. He has published a novel, That Which Was, and a collection of non-fiction, Lapsed Protestant.

Dermot Bolger is from Dublin and has written six novels, eight plays and six books of poetry. Among his best know books are Night Shift, The Journey Home and A Second Life. He is a member of Aosdána.

Éilís Ní Dhuibhne has written plays, novels and short stories including The Bray House, The Inland Ice, and Dúnmharú sa Daingean. She has a doctorate in Folklore and Medieval Literature from UCD.

Robert O'Byrne is no stranger to Limerick and was part of the original committee to set up the weekend. These days Robert focuses on writing. He has penned a number of books, focusing on versatile themes. After a Fashion: A History of the Irish Fashion Industry where he traces and examines the place of the clothing industry in Irish fashion. Mind Your Manners: A Guide to Good Behaviour gives witty advice on how best to behave with style in the 21st century.

Hugh Lane traces the life of the eponymous art dealer and patron. His most recent book The Irish Georgian Society - A Celebration was launched in Limerick at Limerick City Gallery of Art.

The Kate O'Brien Weekend Lecture will be given by John Banville. He was literary editor of the Irish Times between 1988 and 1999. Long Lankin, a collection of short stories, was published in 1970. It was followed by Nightspawn (1971) and Birchwood (1973), both novels.

Banville's fictional portrait of the 15th-century Polish astronomer Dr Copernicus (1976) won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction) and was the first in a series of books exploring the lives of eminent scientists and scientific ideas. The second novel in the series was about the 16th-century German astronomer Kepler (1981) and won the Guardian Fiction Prize. The Newton Letter: An Interlude (1982), is the story of an academic writing a book about the mathematician Sir Isaac Newton. It was adapted as a film by Channel 4 Television. Mefisto (1986), explores the world of numbers in a reworking of Dr Faustus. The Book of Evidence (1989), which won the Guinness Peat Aviation Book Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction, Ghosts (1993) and Athena (1995) form a loose trilogy of novels narrated by Freddie Montgomery, a convicted murderer. The central character of Banville's 1997 novel, The Untouchable, Victor Maskell, is based on the art historian and spy Anthony Blunt. Eclipse (2000), is narrated by Alexander Cleave, an actor who has withdrawn to the house where he spent his childhood. Shroud (2002), continues the tale begun in Eclipse and Prague Pictures: Portrait of a City (2003), is a personal evocation of the magical European city. John Banville lives in Dublin. His latest book The Sea (2005) won the 2005 Man Booker Prize. In The Sea an elderly art historian loses his wife to cancer and feels compelled to revisit the seaside villa where he spent childhood holidays.

The Kate O'Brien Weekend committee has had many achievements over its 25 years in existence. Many people have their own personal memories of the weekend due to the intimate nature of the event. In 1997 the committee commissioned a portrait of Kate O'Brien by the Limerick artist John Shinnors. This year the portrait will be used on the cover of a new publication. Mary Coll has been asked by the committee to edit the second in a series of essays of talks given over the years. The book entitled, Faithful Companions: Collected essays celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Kate O'Brien weekend will be launched in the Absolute Hotel during the festival.

The festival is supported by Limerick City Council, The Arts Council, RTE Lyric FM, O'Mahony's Bookshop, The Absolute Hotel and the Belltable Arts Centre.

The Committee would also like to extend thanks to all the local businesses and venues who have supported and helped to maintain the presence of the event throughout its 25 years.