Éilís Ní Dhuibhne
Five years ago, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne’s husband died after a short illness. An internationally renowned folklorist, Bo Almqvist, who was 20 years Éilís’s senior, had been, simply, the love of her life. His death left her…
Dacre Stocker
With our minds on Halloween ghouls, comes a prequel about Dracula, the vampire invented by the Irish writer Bram Stoker back in 1897. An old Count who drank the blood of his victims; killing some, and…
Patrick Gale
A few years ago Patrick Gale gave a reading in Weston-Super-Mare in the West Country. Walking around, it struck him that that it was a peculiar town – full of institutions like drug rehabilitation centres and…
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…
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…
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…
Arnold Fanning
This extraordinary memoir opens at Heathrow Airport. At the height of a manic phase, the playwright, and debut writer, Arnold Thomas Fanning, rips a defibrillator off the wall, deciding he needs it for his imaginary journey…
Debut Roundup. July/August 2018
Problems Jade Sharma. Tramp Press. Maya has problems. Living in New York, she’s been married for seven months to Peter. He’s good to her, but she wants nothing more then for him to leave her. Embroiled…
Christie Watson
When, at 17, Christie Watson applied for nursing, her prospects for success seemed slim. Fresh from a few wild years, the early school-leaver fainted at her medical, at the sight of her own blood. Later, arriving…
Review. Andrea Mara
In the late nineties I wrote an article titled ‘mobile manners.’ Commenting on the disturbance caused by phone conversations on the beach, at the theatre, and during a funeral mass, I suggested that some guidelines were…
Julia Kelly
I first met Julia Kelly in 2007 the day after her debut had been launched. She told me she was wrecked, but she looked amazing in her low-cut, body-hugging black dress. With My Lazy Eye had…