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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Rachael English is not the first writer to tackle the subject of the church’s abuse of women; along with a plethora of factual accounts, we’ve had novels from Jo Spain and Marita Conlon McKenna amongst others….
Ever since she stormed onto the literary scene in 2014, Liz Nugent has been famous for her devastating first lines. And with her latest, fourth novel, Our Little Cruelties, she has penned her most intriguing yet…
Maeve loved writing as a young child and teenager, but after college she was so focused on her career that her creativity took a back seat. “I studied journalism at college. I edited the college magazine,…
Brought up on a farm, Austin has always wanted to be a vet. “My dad was a big storyteller. I loved hanging out with him in farmer’s markets and in the pub after mass.” After university,…
Alice’s artistic talent showed early. “I was an artist as a child, and I was encouraged. I wrote little bits, but wanted to become a visual artist.” At university, the art course was too conceptual, and…
Andrew Meehan is a happy man. He adores living in Glasgow – a city where the arts flourish – and he loves his life as an author and teacher of creative writing. So much so, in…