Kevin Barry

Night Boat to Tangier is a novel drenched in sex and death and narcotics, in sudden violence and old magic, but it is obsessed, above all, with the mysteries of love. A tragicomic masterwork from a multi-award-winning writer, Night Boat to Tangier is both mordant and hilarious, lyrical yet laden with menace. And it even features trips to Cork city and Berehaven.

It’s late one night at the Spanish port of Algeciras and two fading Irish gangsters are waiting on the boat from Tangier. A lover has been lost, a daughter has gone missing, their world has come asunder – can it be put together again?

“It’s a Kevin Barry novel, so the brilliance is expected; everything else is a brilliant surprise.” Roddy Doyle

“A bloody mighty novel. It’s audacious, but also it’s Kevin Barry at his most tender. The novel carries a beautiful, mournful undertow to it, which is particularly affecting in a book so heavy with old myth and new poetry. May he keep twisting literature forever.” Lisa McInerney

“I devoured Night Boat to Tangier. I loved the potent truth of it all, drenched in damage and romance. The Barry turn of phrase is a true wonder of this world.” Max Porter

“Brilliantly funny and terrifying at once, I was completely lost inside its dark craziness. Barry blends glorious voluptuous prose with entrancing storytelling.” Tessa Hadley

The ferry ticket is included in the ticket for this event. The ferry leaves Bantry Pier for Whiddy Island at 13.30 sharp. It will leave Whiddy at 16.00 to return to Bantry (after the reading & Whiddy talk). A smaller ferry will depart Whiddy at 16.30 (after the Festival Walk).