Dublin: One City, Many Stories – Episode Three with Neil Jordan and John Banville in Conversation
The Irish Writers Centre, in association with Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, to launch Episode Three of Dublin: One City, Many Stories.This episode brings together two of Ireland’s most acclaimed voices — filmmaker and novelist Neil Jordan and Booker Prize-winning author John Banville — in a rare, candid conversation.
Filmed in Dublin, the discussion offers frank reflections on friendship, creativity, and the literary life, with both writers swapping stories of their early influences, their encounters with Dublin’s cultural landscape, and their perspectives on what it means to write today. This is a rare, no-filters conversation on writing, Dublin and the lives that shaped them.
Neil Jordan recalls the weight of Dublin’s literary inheritance: “If you were born in Sligo you would read WB Yeats and if you grew up near Dollymount you would read A Portrait of the Artist and probably Dubliners. You could not separate the city from what you had read….”
John Banville reflects on the intimidating legacy of Joyce and Beckett: “I always think of those figures who went before us — these enormous stone figures, Easter Island statues, glaring down and saying: ‘what are you going to do, little man?’ It was very difficult for us to write about Dublin because Dublin had been done — Joyce had devoured the city.”
For John, writing has always been a vocation rather than a career: “We didn’t expect to make money, we didn’t expect to make a living from writing. If you thought about an audience, it would be pulp, because it would be setting out to please everybody.”
On the enduring value of literature, Neil added: “You’re creating something that has no value whatsoever, but actually, oddly enough, it has absolute value.”
Episode Three of Dublin: One City, Many Stories highlights not only Dublin’s impact on two extraordinary creative lives but also the humour, candour and shared history that bind these old friends together.
Anne-Marie Kelly, Director of Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, said: “This series showcases the conversations that make Dublin a true UNESCO City of Literature — candid, witty, and profoundly rooted in the life of the city. To hear Neil Jordan and John Banville reflect on their craft, their friendship, and the Dublin that shaped them, is a rare privilege. We are delighted to support a project that connects our city’s past and present, and inspires new generations of writers and readers.”
The second episode is now available to watch on the Irish Writers Centre website and YouTube channel.
Read about Episode 1 with Joseph O’Connor on Writing.ie here and Episode 2 here.
