Louise Hall
Louise always read. “I read anything going. I started with Judy Blume and went on to Marian Keyes.” During college holidays Louise worked in a travel agency, and when she graduated the company gave her a…
Dermot Bolger
In Dermot Bolger’s new novel, An Ark of Light, a teenage poet visits Eva Fitzgerald – a free spirit, who is living out her old age in a caravan in a field in County Mayo. Finding…
Atoosa Sepehr
Atoosa was always interested in food, she was never allowed into the kitchen. “Mum said education was my job and cooking was hers. She loved food. So much love went into it.” After university Atoosa did…
Wendy Erskine
Wendy had a wonderful English teacher in primary school. “An afternoon each week was dedicated to story writing. She would put up a picture to inspire us, and bring in mars bars for us to eat.”…
Hannah Begbie
Hannah discovered the power of narrative aged 8. “I wrote a story about, ‘X’ and my classmates thought it was about one of them. It wasn’t.” She wrote a journal, every day from aged nine until…
David Rice
David Rice is a name I know well. In journalistic circles his name is mentioned with respect verging on awe. I’ve a treasured copy of his Rathmines Stylebook, and have read Song of Tiananmen Square, his…
Debut Roundup for Books Ireland, September/October
Follow me to Ground. Sue Rainsford. New Island. Ada lives quietly with her father. They’re not like other people; Ada wasn’t born, she came from the ground, and her father is fond of hunting, naked and…
Helen Cullen
Helen didn’t start writing until she was 30. “I thought authors were born and not made. I had the desire to write before then, but not the confidence.” “I spent my college summers working in RTE….
Darragh Martin
As a child, Darragh wanted to be a journalist. Whilst at school, he had work experience in the then Cork Examiner’s Dublin office. “I had a tiny news article published,” he says. During college he had…
Karl McDermott
Karl has always loved comedy. “We only had one TV channel when I was growing up, and I was obsessed with old black and white movies. I loved comedians like Danny Kaye and old Bob Hope…
Mia Gallagher
There’s something exotic about the writer, Mia Gallagher. She’s not traditionally beautiful, and doesn’t follow the vagaries of fashion, yet she always stands out. She secures her long hair with a decorative clip – and personalises…
Joe Heap
Writing since he was 12, Joe completed four novels once he left university. “They went to agents but were all turned down.” Meanwhile, he was working as a sub titler, for news and sports. “You repeat…