Arts Over Borders – the northern literary lands

Welcome to Arts over Borders (Ireland’s presenting body for cross-border arts festivals).

Our bio-festival model is a bespoke format which takes its inspiration from the genius of a single artist and is curated with a strong sense of place, both rural & urban, throughout border communities and landscapes – what we now call the northern literary lands.

The festivals  extend across six counties from Ballycastle in Co. Antrim to Portnoo in Co. Donegal, from Omagh in Co. Tyrone to Magheroarty, from Derry~Londonderry city to outside Blacklion in Co. Cavan and from Magilligan in Co. Derry~Londonderry to Enniskillen in Co. Fermanagh, taking place in underground caves, islands on a lake, beaches, the Walls of Derry, village halls, cafes, arts centres, schools, a crypt, a roadside, a pier and a mountain! First and foremost though our heightened site-specific experiences are there to underpin the artist’s work.

With the pandemic impacting events, sadly we have been unable to deliver our unique programmes of events for the past year but are delighted that we will be delivering our literary tourism project in 2021- creating Wilde’s Island Town, the home of the Happy Prince.

We thank all our artists – local, national and international – our small but resourceful compliment of staff, our Board of Trustees and all our courageous partners and funders,

‘Never neglect the little things of life’ (Waiting for Godot)

If you would like to support us for our projects with a donation we would be very grateful, no matter how small your donation – click here

Each year, in helping to make the festivals happen, we carry the spirit of a Beckett cliché ‘We can’t go on. We’ll go on’
Help us go on!

Thank you.

Seán Doran & Liam Browne
Festival Curators – DoranBrowne

Arts Over Borders ~ Artist Honorary Patrons

Laurie Anderson
John Banville
Kevin Barry
Ciaran Carson
Roma Downey
Adrian Dunbar
Lisa Dwan
Roy Foster
Philip Glass
Nick Laird
Eimear McBride
Lisa McInerney
Sinead Morrissey
Paul Muldoon
Ohad Naharin
Glenn Patterson
Tom Paulin
Fiona Shaw
Raja Shehadeh
Colm Toibin
Robert Wilson

Arts Over Borders ~ Board of Trustees

Co-Chairs
Mary Heaney
Paul Sternberg

Trustees
Carlo Gebler
Oliver O’Connor
Peter Espenhahn
William Morrison
Jer O Mahony
Orla Constant
Nessa McGill

Previous Festivals

Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival 2012

Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival 2013

Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival 2015

Lughnasa International Friel Festival 2015