Beyond Borders Book Club
The Beyond Borders Book Club is a celebration of great literature from countries beyond Ireland, recommended by guests who have personal connections to the places featured in these works. Its aim is to introduce audiences in Ireland to the rich diversity of writing and literature from around the world.
The Book Club meetings are led by writer and community activist Sarah Clancy. At each meeting, a presenter shares a book they love and feel connected to, inviting audience members to join the discussion about it
This year’s panel includes Cecilia Brizuela, Aneta Stępien, and Mercedes Varona Pereira, in conversation with Sarah. Books discussed include Gabriela Cabezón Cámara’s The Adventures of China Iron, Olga Tokarczuk’s Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, and Leonardo Padura’s The Man Who Loved Dogs. The event explores diverse narratives and perspectives, offering insights into different cultures while highlighting the universal connections that link us across societies and experiences worldwide.
We are pleased to make our 2025–2026 schedule of events available as podcasts.
Feminism and Women’s Experiences at War
Yaryna Chornohuz in conversation with Natalya Korniyenko
Yaryna Chornohuz, Ukrainian poet and an intelligence officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, speaks first-hand about what it means to be a woman at war – the challenges, resilience, trauma, and strength that shape the everyday reality of female soldiers. She also reads from her poetry and shares personal stories from the frontline.
She travelled to Ireland on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine specifically for this event and is in conversation with Natalya Korniyenko, Ukrainian journalist and writer based in Galway.
This event was recorded at De Valera Library on February 17th 2026
Cecilia Brizuela in conversation with Sarah Clancy discuss
The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón
In this first episode of the Beyond Borders book club podcast series, Cecilia Brizuela chats to Sarah Clancy about her chosen book, The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón.
Cecilia Brizuela, is the Coordinator for Women’s Collective Ireland (WCI) Clare. Originally from Argentina, Cecilia has lived in almost ten countries and her book of choice was inspired by both the similarities and uniqueness between my place of origin and Ireland. Las aventuras de la China Iron reimagines Martín Fierro, a classic gaucho epic, but through the eyes of a woman, speaks of migration, resilience, and the power of storytelling to imagine unknown places.
This event was recorded at De Valera Library
on December 4th 2025
Aneta Stępien in conversation with Sarah Clancy discuss
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Aneta Stępien discusses her chosen book, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead (Prowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych) by Olga Tokarczuk. A subversive, entertaining noir novel set in a remote Polish village, Janina Duszejko, an eccentric woman in her sixties, recounts the events surrounding the disappearance of her two dogs.
Aneta Stępień is a lecturer and a writer. She teaches Critical Skills at Maynooth University, a first-year undergraduate programme and is the author of Shame, Masculinity and Desire of Belonging. Reading Contemporary Male Authors (2017), a comparative study of the literary and gendered expressions of shame. She has published on Polish literature and culture, including popular culture, gender, sexuality, and creative writing practice.
This event was recorded De Valera Library on
January 22nd 2026
Mercedes Varona Pereira in conversation with Sarah Clancy discuss
The Man Who Loved Dogs by Leonardo Padura
Mercedes Varona Pereira, originally from Cuba and now living in Kinvara discusses The Man Who Loved Dogs by Leonardo Padura with Sarah Clancy. A gripping novel about the assassination of Leon Trotsky in Mexico City in 1940, In The Man Who Loved Dogs, Leonardo Padura brings a noir sensibility to one of the most fascinating and complex political narratives of the past hundred years.
This event was recorded at De Valera Library
on February 12th 2026
The Beyond Borders Book Club with Cecilia Brizuela, Aneta Stępien and Mercedes Varona Pereira in conversation with Sarah Clancy
On March 7 Cecilia Brizuela, Aneta Stępien and Mercedes Varona Pereira joined Sarah Clancy for a panel event at the Temple Gate Hotel as part of Ennis Book Club Festival 2026. We are delighted to publish a recording of the event.
This event was recorded at the Temple Gate hotel, Ennis on March 7 2026
Ennis Book Club Festival is very grateful to Clare Libraries and the Temple Gate hotel as our event venues.
Kindly Supported by the Integration Fund and The Ireland Against Racism Fund
Charity Number | 20153748