The National Library of Ireland are delighted to announce details of Living with Pride, a year-long flagship programme exploring Irish LGBTI+ identity and experience over the last several decades and into the present day.

The programme will include a physical and online exhibition of the work of activist Christopher Robson, as well as a year-long programme of LGBTI+ online events. These online events have been co-curated with the National Library by Tonie Walsh,, and include virtual talks, readings, workshops, panel discussions and events for children and young people. . Book events from the spring programme now

The programme hinges on the National Library’s Christopher Robson Photographic Collection, which will be the subject of a dedicated photographic exhibition. It will launch in Summer 2021, COVID-19 restrictions permitting, both at the NLI’s National Photographic Archive, Temple Bar, and online. Christopher Robson was a founding member of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN). His photographic collection of around 2,000 slides, which document LGBTI+ life and activism in Ireland, was donated to the National Library in 2015 by Bill Foley, Christopher Robson’s civil partner and by GLEN, in the presence of President Michael D Higgins. The exhibition will focus on Christopher Robson’s photography, life, activism and achievements, while the accompanying events programme facilitates a closer look at many of the themes and issues raised by his photographs.

As part of Living with Pride, a poet-in-residence programme will run throughout 2021, in which award-winning poet Seán Hewitt will engage with the content of the IQA to produce a number of works. This residency is a partnership between Cúirt International Festival of Literature and the National Library, funded by the Arts Council.