Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin and singer-songwriter Kesha are among the guests due to visit some of Trinity’s biggest societies this year.
Dates have been confirmed for some of the guests, with others still to be confirmed.
Among Trinity College Law Society’s (Law Soc) confirmed guests are Dean Strang, the defence attorney for Steven Avery whose trial was the focus of the Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer, due to speak on September 21; American attorney and academic Anita Hill, who will speak on March 7; Beverley McLachlin, the first female Chief Justice of Canada, who will visit on March 8; former South African President F.W. de Klerk, who will speak on January 18; and English journalist Jeremy Paxman, who visits on November 4.
Speaking about Law Soc’s line up this year, Law Soc Secretary Tom Cantillon said: “I’m really happy with how the speaker series has matured over the last few years, especially considering the society only started the speaker series a couple of years ago. Over the last few years we’ve had people like Fatou Bensouda, Chris Hadfield, Alastair Campbell and Sarah Rafferty. Here’s hoping over the next few years the series will continue to grow and develop.”
The University Philosophical Society (the Phil) and the College Historical Society (the Hist) have also confirmed dates for a number of speakers. Guests announced by the Phil include Marjane Satrapi, the graphic novelist known for her work Persepoli, who is to speak on September 27; David Yates, known for having directed a number of the Harry Potter films, who will speak on 11 October; and Irish singer Glen Hansard, visiting on 18 January.
The Hist have confirmed EU Ambassador to America David O’Sullivan for October 10 and singer Patti Smith for November 4.
Other guests due to visit societies this year include singer Ellie Goulding; Great British Bake Off judge and cookbook writer Mary Berry; singer and philanthropist Bob Geldof; comedians the Rubberbandits; and singer Imelda May.
