Books and Drinks

This group is all about hosting a monthly in-person book club right here in Dublin City! If you're into the book we're reading and want to chat about it with others, this is the perfect spot for you. We'll meet for about 1-2 hours, enjoy some drinks and/or food, and dive into the book of the month—sharing our thoughts, exploring themes, and swapping recommendations for future reads. We suggest a €2 voluntary contribution per person to help cover MeetUp fees (cash or Revolut works). See you there!

**Registration/booking on our system at least 24 hours before class is necessary. We do not take walk ins/your rsvp on meetup is not a booking.** BOOK [HERE](themovementstudio.ie/handstandsandcoffee) From beginner to winner! We have a special weekly 2 hour class that is more like a weekly workshop. It's a very social class, with amazing coffee, great coaching, and smiles and good work being done. Fancy trying something new? Spending time safely outside your comfort zone? Please visit themovementstudio.ie/handstandsandcoffee to book your spot Registration/booking is necessary. We do not take walk ins.

Let’s team up for a chill Literati Dublin meetup at the International Literature Festival Dublin. We’ll hang out in Merrion Square Park, soak up the good weather, and enjoy a full day of talks, readings, and creative events together. No pressure, just good vibes, books, and interesting conversations. **Bring a blanket**, and get ready to spend a relaxed day in the park surrounded by stories and inspiring people ☀️ Perfect chance to connect, discover new authors, and enjoy Dublin at its best. **The area will have chairs to sit, bars, food trucks, bookshop and libraries.** The events are listed here :) https://ilfdublin.com/whats-on/festival/ See you there 💚

Join the group for coffee, a chat and bring your project upstairs in Starbucks on Westmoreland Street from 12-2.30pm (or sometimes longer!). There is a lift for those with mobility issues but please check with staff if it's working. There's no charge for the meetup but we ask please that you join our Whatsapp group if you plan on staying with the group. Cost is only €5 a year to pay for Meetup subs etc.

Drink & Draw Ireland's paint party. Win Prizes. Create A Masterpiece. Music & craic! Absolutely no painting experience is necessary. This event is open to everyone, bring a loved one, a friend or come alone🎨 No experience is needed and in under two hours you will create a painting of your very own masterpiece ***[Get your Tickets](https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/drink-draw-paint-your-own-cocktail-byob-tickets-1985736104142)*** **What you get with your ticket?** ☀ 1 x Canvas to keep ☀ All the painting materials necessary ☀ Instructor to help guide you ☀ Patterns and designs to inspire you ☀ Custom playlist with feel good tunes ☀ Win prizes! **FAQs:** **I'M NO GOOD AT ART AND HAVEN'T PAINTED SINCE SCHOOL?** Drink & Draw is a super fun event designed so you can have a good time, we aren't about perfection we want you to relax and create. We have instructors who will help guide you to creating your own masterpiece. It doesn't matter if you can't paint this about relaxing. **WHAT IF I GET PAINT ON MY CLOTHES?** We use non-toxic paint that can be machine washed. **DO YOU DO PRIVATE EVENTS?** Yes, we host private events, brand events, hen parties, and work parties. Contact us on bookings@alternativeexperiences.ie **HOW DO I FIND OUT ABOUT EVENTS?** Signup to our weekly newsletter [here](https://www.alternativedublincity.com/newsletter-signup/ "https://www.alternativedublincity.com/newsletter-signup/") **IS ALCOHOL PROVIDED AT THIS EVENT?** This event is a BYOB event to make it a cheap and fun event for you!

**Hello Mishmashers 👋** Excited to see you at our next meetup! Here's what you can look forward to: 💬 **Great chats with lovely people**! whether you're a local or from the other side of the world, you’re very welcome here! 🌍 **Not a native English speaker?** Awesome, you’ll get to practice with native speakers in a relaxed, no-pressure setting. 🇮🇪 **Are you a native English speaker?** Cool! Chat in English or find someone to practice another language with. Why not mix it up? ✨ We’re a **diverse, super-friendly, and inclusive bunch**, open to everyone, whether you’re shy, outgoing, or somewhere in between. 🎯 Our awesome organizers are always around to make sure things run smoothly and everyone feels included. 💡 One of the nicest things we hear again and again: even introverts feel at ease here. That’s something we’re really proud of. 🤝 **Instant connections!** You might walk in alone, but you'll probably leave with new friends. 📅 **This Saturday at 2:30pm!** We’ll be downstairs around the big oval table at a much-loved venue that's perfect for easy-going conversations and real connection. 🎉 **Theme: “International Mishmash”**: A chill space for people from all over (including Ireland!) to swap stories, share laughs, and practice languages if you fancy. (Shout-out to our lovely Irish regulars!) 🍻 **And after?** At 5pm, we’ll head over to the nearby **RIOT Pub** for tasty burgers and proper pints. Always a good time!!! *** **Want to support the group? 🙏** Running this thing costs over €200 a year (yep, all out of pocket for now 😅). If you’d like to chip in, we’d really appreciate it: * [PayPal](https://paypal.me/meetuppay) * [Revolut](https://revolut.me/michelf9a) (you can pay with your card, no need to be on Revolut!). Your help keeps the group going and opens the door for even more cool events (like day trips and gigs!). Cheers and see you soon! **– Michele & the Meetup Crew**

Let's attend together Literature Festival Dublin to see Colm Toibin with his new book The News From Dublin. After the event we can hang out and benefit from Festival Attractions, Foodtracks, bar, library and bookshops around the park :) Link to book: https://ilfdublin.com/whats-on/festival/type/conversations/the-news-from-dublin-colm-toibin/ Event desctiption: ***The News from Dublin* comes to Dublin… A master of understated emotions, the bestselling author of *Brooklyn* and *Long Island* returns to ILFD with a beautiful new collection of short stories.** *“A subtle, intelligent and deeply felt writer.*” Guardian A woman in Galway hears of the death of her son in the First World War. An Irishman seeks anonymity in Barcelona, haunted by crimes he has committed. A man goes to Dublin from Enniscorthy to implore the Minister for Health for a special favour. A young woman is pregnant during the Spanish Civil War. An undocumented worker finds himself living an illegal life and must leave San Francisco, and his child, after thirty years in America. Three sisters who have been living in Argentina decide to return to Catalonia…There are few authors more attuned to human yearning than Colm Tóibín. In *The News from Dublin* he delves into the days and nights of those living far from home: lives of great longing, at a great distance from past lives and past selves. Colm Tóibín is the author of eleven novels, including *The Master,* *Brooklyn* and its sequel *Long Island*, and *The Magician*, and three collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Between 2022 and 2024 he was the Laureate for Irish Fiction.

**📚 Join us for a special evening with Meena Kandasamy** as we celebrate her powerful new novel, *[Fieldwork as a Sex Object](https://www.waterstones.com/book/fieldwork-as-a-sex-object/meena-kandasamy/9781840919448)* — an incendiary and fearless work exploring deepfakes, online misogyny, political violence, race, and the chaos of digital life. Set between London and India, the novel follows a young woman whose life spirals after a deepfake video of her goes viral, opening urgent conversations around feminism, surveillance, shame, and resistance in the internet age. The Irish launch of the book will take place at The Bread and Roses Festival 2026, and we highly recommend attending the festival on 22nd and 23rd May — [tickets are still available](https://projectartscentre.ie/events/bread-and-roses-festival/)! [Meena Kandasamy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meena_Kandasamy) is one of the most [vital literary and political voices writing today](https://www.kandasamy.co.uk/) — a poet, novelist, translator, actor, and anti-caste activist whose work spans fiction, memoir, poetry, and essays. Her acclaimed books include *[When I Hit You](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_I_Hit_You:_Or,_A_Portrait_of_the_Writer_as_a_Young_Wife)*, shortlisted for the Women’s Prize, *The Gypsy Goddess*, *Exquisite Cadavers*, and the poetry collections *Ms Militancy* and *Tomorrow Someone Will Arrest You*. **Her translation of Salma's Novel Women Dreaming / Lux and was nominated for [Dublin Literary Award in 2022](https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/books/women-dreaming/). I**n 2022, she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL). The same year, in November, she was also awarded the PEN Hermann Kesten Prize for her writing and work as a ‘fearless fighter for democracy, human rights and the free word.’ During the event, Meena Kandasamy will read from her work (around 3:30 PM), followed by an open and informal conversation with attendees about books, contemporary literature, activism, feminism, politics, and creative practice. This is a casual, warm conversation-style gathering similar to Books & Social, where everyone is welcome to participate, listen, and connect. Whether you are a long-time reader of her work or discovering her writing for the first time, we warmly invite you to join us for an evening of conversation, ideas, and community. See you all on Sunday! ✨

This Sunday we will head to The Christophers at 12pm in The Lighthouse. We'll meet outside from 11am and head into the cafe when it opens (usually 11:15am). The Christophers 100mins The children of a once famous artist hire a forger to complete some unfinished, long ago abandoned canvases so they'll have an inheritance when he dies. Starring Ian McKellen [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34966562/plotsummary?item=po8336614](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34966562/plotsummary?item=po8336614)

Step into a high-energy electronic dance session designed to shift your mood and leave you feeling clear, light & recharged. Alcohol-free. Dance your Sunday afternoon away at ESPRESSO RAVE — a high-energy daytime dance session with electronic music and great vibes, downstairs in Wigwam. And yes — you’ll still be home in time for Sunday dinner. Profits from ticket sales will go to My Lovely Horse Rescue, because we love the work they do and want to help 🐴✨ ### **Why Dance?** Dancing isn’t just fun — it’s genuinely good for you. Music and movement together help release endorphins and dopamine, natural chemicals that boost mood and reduce stress. Moving in rhythm with others can also increase feelings of connection and belonging. It’s one of the simplest ways to clear your head, lift your energy, and reconnect with your body. Coffee and cake will be served upstairs — we keep the dancefloor for dancing. **Tickets 15 euro for one and two for 25 euro available** [dancespace.ie ](dancespace.ie) ### **Espresso Rave** Wake up your Sunday. Dance it out. Go home glowing with a total reset for the week ahead. Follow: @dancespacedublin ### **Learn more about www.mylovelyhorserescue.com**

Welcome, readers! Our May read is **_Kindred_ by Octavia E. Butler.** The story follows Dana, a Black woman living in 1976 California, who is suddenly pulled back to a Maryland plantation before the Civil War. She learns her survival is tied to a white slaveholder’s son. Forced to move between centuries, she must endure the brutal realities of slavery while fighting to hold on to her identity. Tense, intimate, and unforgettable, Kindred explores how the past refuses to stay buried. Looking forward to discussing with everyone! We will meet at Zaftig Brewing Co in their event room in the back. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **drinks must be purchased at the bar.** Happy reading! 📖

Welcome, readers! Our June read is ***Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible*** ***Voyage*** **by Alfred Lansing.** A work of nonfiction, and one of the most astonishing survival stories in history, we follow Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew after their ship is crushed by Antarctic ice. Stranded in one of the harshest environments on Earth, the men endure months of isolation, freezing temperatures, and near starvation—yet refuse to give up hope. Lansing brings their ordeal to life through vivid detail and firsthand accounts, capturing both the brutality of nature and the resilience of the human spirit. At its core, the story is a powerful testament to leadership, perseverance, and the unbreakable will to survive against impossible odds. Looking forward to discussing with everyone! We will meet at Zaftig Brewing Co in their event room in the back. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **all** **drinks must be purchased at the bar.** Happy reading! 📖

Join us for Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn! Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the unsolved murder of a preteen girl and the disappearance of another. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story-and survive this homecoming.

[Columbus library link to book](https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3351321) Location: The Goat River South 219 S High St, Columbus, OH 43215 Street parking is free on Sundays [Menu](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/686d3ed16745133042482c5f/t/68ff654dbb03b96875430bde/1761568077220/all_brunch-20250311.pdf) Book summary: On a hot day in Bethlehem, a twelve-year-old Palestinian-American girl is yelled at by a group of men outside the Church of the Nativity. She has exposed her legs in a biblical city, an act they deem forbidden, and their judgement will echo on through her adolescence. When our narrator finally admits to her mother that she is queer, her mother's response only intensifies a sense of shame: 'You exist too much,' she tells her daughter. Told in vignettes that flash between the U.S. and the Middle East--from New York to Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine--Zaina Arafat's debut novel traces her protagonist's progress from blushing teen to sought-after DJ and aspiring writer.

The theme for May is Thriller. • The book we will be discussing is A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. (determined by votes from April Book Club. Let me know if you'd like a free digital copy of the book) • This event will be at the main library. Feel free to come whether or not you've started or finished the book. • Small snacks will be provided. You're welcome to bring your own snacks & drinks too! Let me know if you’d like to volunteer to bring snacks or drinks for the group.