Giles Dawnay
During university holidays Giles worked for an adventure company. He taught in Kenya, before setting up a division in Peru. He returned often, leading mountaineering expeditions. And after graduation, he worked in Ghana, then Fiji, as…
Niamh Campbell
At 7, Niamh asked for a real typewriter for Christmas. “I paid for my own ribbons and had to conserve ink. I’ve always known I’d be a writer, but it’s hard to write well. It took…
Finbar Lennon
The eldest of five, Finbar spent the first two years of his life in England. “But in 1950 my father worked as a dispensary doctor in County Meath. Then we moved to Edenderry.” He met Kate…
Stephanie Scott
A lifelong book lover, Stephanie started writing poetry at University. Studying for a PhD, and needing funds, she secured a job with Lehmann Brothers on a graduate programme. “But I was headhunted before the bank fell….
Review. The Switch. Beth O’Leary
Last year, Beth O’Leary produced a debut that really hit the spot. Warm and clever, with characters one wished were friends, The Flat Share featured two people who share a bed – but at different times,…
Cauvery Madhavan
Earlier this year, Cauvery Madhavan was reading from her new novel, The Tainted, at Madras University. At dinner afterwards, she was sitting next to a retired professor of English, who asked her what the book was…
John O’Donnell
A prize-winning poet who was published from the time he was at school, John O’Donnell has four poetry collections to his name. But having enjoyed writing stories as a kid, he then stopped penning them for…
Leaf Arbuthnot
As a teenager, Leaf set herself writing exercises for fun, but reading has always been more central for her. “It still is. Reading feeds into me. It’s crucial.” Writing for newspapers throughout university, and her fellowship,…
Eulogy for Joy Almond. 3rd February 1922 – 16th May 2020
Joy was born in 1922 in Newcastle to Charles and Gladys Forster, a much wanted fourth child and first daughter. After a rich, if somewhat lonely childhood, spent between Wiltshire and her beloved Bamburgh, she left…
Abbie Greaves
Always mad into books, Abbie used to think that reading was a barrier to writing. “I enjoyed creative writing at school, but at university I just stopped,” she says. After graduating from university, Abbie did TEFAL…
Naoise Dolan
Surrounded by books as a child, Naoise loved reading, but didn’t feel the urge to write until she arrived at university. “When I left Trinity, I lived in Singapore, and then Hong-Kong, teaching English as a…
Sara Baume
Four years ago Sara Baume was scheduled to go to Berlin for a three-week writing residency. She packed and set off, but when she reached Dublin airport she sat on the floor, and couldn’t bring herself…