Vivienne Kearns
Vivienne wrote gothic short stories at college, and a science fiction screenplay. After her degree she trained as an English teacher but moved to LA for a year. Returning, she worked as a project manager in…
Catherine Kirwan
Brought up on a farm in Tipperary, Catherine was a bookish child. She studied law in Cork; took a traineeship in Dublin, before heading for Munich where she taught English. “I thought about being a writer…
Andrew Mulligan
For years, Andrew wanted to work in the theatre. But he never really made it. “I was banging my head on the door, doing a lot of poorly paid and unpaid work. So at thirty, I…
Oisin Fagan
Beginner’s Pluck. A writer since childhood, Oisín published his first short story at 18. “I dropped out of college for a year and wrote fulltime working nights. Then I went back to complete my course.” As…
Damian Barr
Last year, Damian Barr lived in terror, worried that he would die. He wasn’t sick; he didn’t face danger; but he couldn’t bear the thought that his debut novel might not see the light of day….
Homan Potterton
In 2002, when the former Director of the National Gallery, Homan Potterton, brought out his childhood memoir, he didn’t expect that many people would read it. So, when it received positive reviews, and sold extremely well,…
Jing-Jing Lee
Brought up in a house without books, speaking Mandarin, Jing-Jing was never read to. She discovered books aged 7, at school. “I loved Roald Dahl. I remember listening to audio tapes, as I read.” During her…
Claire Adam
Books were scarce in Trinidad, when Claire was growing up there, but she was lucky. “My mum, who is Irish, opened a book shop in our basement.” Claire always kept notebooks, but when it came to…
Samuel Thompson
There’s been a wealth of fiction coming from Northern Ireland of late, and much of it focuses on the troubles. We’ve heard the story of terrorists; of victims; and of people whose normal lives have been…
Richard Roper
Richard remembers arguing with his mother about the number of books he could take out of the library. “I was always reading,” he says. “And at university I was a tortured writer of terrible poetry. It…
Tim MacGabhann
Tim has been writing novels since he was 15. Leaving Dublin shortly after starting a PhD, he fled to Mexica, and taught English. “After nine months, I met a load of foreign correspondents, and thought they…
Anna Stuart
A lifelong reader, Anna wrote a book about boarding school aged 10. Leaving university, she moved to Lancashire working in production management in Courtaulds textiles. “I loved it, but I wanted to get into marketing, and…