The leadup to Christmas is daunting. Now the question of which business to support is as vital to many as which gift to buy. With the economic devastation the arts have suffered through the pandemic, an exclamation has loomed large over the messaging from all creatives: Save the arts. Below are a handful of suggestions you might find to be just right for a friend come Christmastime.
MoLI Membership
The Museum of Literature Ireland got off to a great start when it was founded in September 2019. However, with a little over 6 months of open access, it was forced to shut again and since March it has been entering and exiting various forms of lockdown. Thankfully, it receives state funding and is not threatened with closure, however it still hasn’t had the chance to welcome as many guests through its doors as it would have liked. If you are worried about the use of the voucher in the time of sprinkled lockdowns, you needn’t be: MoLI has promised to extend the membership by however long any lockdowns may last, guaranteeing you full access, regardless.
Books Upstairs Hamper
Books Upstairs is one of the most charming and welcoming bookshops in Dublin, having featured in this year’s TN2’s fresher’s guide to Dublin City among innumerable must-visit lists of Dublin. Last Christmas they began to curate baskets of novels, poetry and short story collections with a couple of trinkets fitting to the theme of each basket. There were five options last year, as well as the ability to personalise a hamper for your loved one. They were packaged beautifully and sustainably, making it a fail-safe idea this Christmas.
Periodical Subscriptions
Ireland has always been a place bubbling with literary talent, in part this has been encouraged and facilitated by the wealth of literary journals over the years with many publishing pieces that span different forms, nonfiction, prose and poetry. While many bookshops will be closed over the next few weeks, ordering subscriptions to these journals online has been made easier. The Stinging Fly, The Dublin Review and Poetry Ireland Review all offer gift subscriptions to be posted upon release periodically through the year.
Indie Publishers
To be realistic, if your loved one loves literature, the odds are they have already read the top 10 bestsellers or have decided they do not want to. Also, by definition, the bestsellers don’t need a publicity boost, their sales exponentially increase around the gift-giving time. If your intention by buying from local, independent bookshops is to support the arts, then double your impact by supporting the independent publishing houses in those shops. Killian Beschel recently recommended four independent publishers that you can check out.
Theatre Vouchers
With all theatres shut for the foreseeable future, to give someone a voucher is an ideal gift for a dedicated theatre-goer. The value of the voucher benefits the recipient in the future, but the theatre house immediately, and provides a needed source of revenue to keep them afloat. In the coming year, there will be a terrific selection of plays staged in Dublin theatres like a production of Sean O’Casey’s The Shadow of a Gunman in the Gate Theatre, a stage adaptation of Dracula and the debut of Marina Carr’s The Boy from the Abbey Theatre.
