by iNews
Share
by iNews
Share
By Laura O’Neill
The Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre in Limavady will host The John Steinbeck Festival 2024 during the month of February.
The music, film and literature event centres around John Steinbeck, a Nobel and Pulitzer prizewinning American author. Steinbeck who has been described as one of Americas most significant twentieth century writer has a deep connection with the Limavady area.
Dougie Bartlett the festival founder and previous history teacher explains the festival’s origins,
“It began in 2019 based on an article I read about the connection between Ballykelly and Steinbeck. The more I looked into it, the more important it actually was. Steinbecks grandfather was born there in 1830 and emigrated to California in 1846.
“Steinbeck initially wrote his novel East of Eden as a family history and the central character Samual Hamilton was his maternal grandfather.
“He absolutely admired him, and he acknowledges this as being the creative side of his family.
“His grandfather would have told all the myths and legends from here in Limavady. He was a blacksmith apprentice so would have picked up plenty of yarns and stories.”
The festival has grown each year and Mr Bartlett talks about some of the events organised to cater for all ages,
“We have the primary school book cover competition, secondary school programme based on ‘Of Mice and Men’ which is studied for GCSE, and a senior citizens American themed music event called ‘The Swingtime Starlets’ produced in collaboration with Live Music Now NI.”
One of the highlights include the Greer Ellison Illustrated talk, a progressive young Northern Irish producer and scriptwriter who has achieved significant success.
There is also the popular photography Dust Bowl competition. The exhibition is named after the 1930’s period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged agriculture and is the basis for Steinbecks Pulitzer Prize novel The Grapes of Wrath.
Mr Barlett said the calibre of work received ‘is the highest standard this year of any year’ and ‘has come in from across the world.’
There is plenty to look forward to and the full programme of dates, events and booking details can be found at www.roevalleyarts.com
Related Posts
By Izzy Bland A former student has donated over 100 Empire Magazine editions going back over two decades to NWRC. Many of them feature interviews with emerging directors who went on to huge success as well as iconic films including Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Paul McElwee from Strabane, graduated in journalism from […]
By Rhiannon Muise A Derry band, whose members are all neurodiverse, are playing a gig at the Millennium Forum next month, The High-End Dead include Aidan Lynch (keyboardist), Owen Coyle (lead singer), Jack McHale (Band Manager), Caoilte Canning (Drummer) and Jason Welsh (drummer and vocalist). The band share a common ground not only with music, […]
By Tracey Villa An action plan for services for women is to be implemented in Northern Ireland over the next few years. The Women’s Health Action Plan will focus on areas which cover the whole life course, including fertility and pregnancy, post-natal healthcare, baby loss, menopause, and gynaecological services. Lack of women’s health services have […]
By Laura O’Neill Strabane will celebrate St Patricks Day with an array of music and drama activities on Sunday March 17. The much-loved annual parade will depart from Melmount Road at the Holy Cross Primary School at 2pm. The parade will move to Bridge Street, Market Street, Abercorn Square, Railway Road and finish in Dock […]
