Hugo Hamilton is one of Ireland’s most critically acclaimed writers. In his latest book, Conversation with the Sea, a man returns to the west coast of Ireland, last seen on his honeymoon 20 years earlier. His marriage in Berlin is collapsing. His wife is under investigation for her possible role in a student protest; their daughter has stopped eating properly. He brings only a notebook, filling it with images and fragments. The Irish Times said of it: ‘the novel is rendered with a timeless, dreamlike purity’.

In this discussion with the laureate for Irish fiction, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, Hugo will talk about what lies behind the subtle exploration of truth, illusion and memory at the heart of this captivating story of love and displacement.

Hugo is also the best-selling author of The Speckled People, a memoir of his German-Irish childhood in Dublin, growing up with his German mother and prohibited by his revolutionary Irish father from speaking English. It was translated into twenty languages and adapted for stage at the Gate Theatre. His novels include Dublin Palms and The Pages. His stories have appeared in the New Yorker. Hugo won the Bundesverdienstkreuz order of merit, awarded by the German state for his exploration of cultural diversity. 

This event is now sold out.

Details of all events taking place at 2026 Festival can be viewed and booked here. While a number of events have already reached capacity, tickets remain available for a range of exciting events.

The Ennis Book Club Festival is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.