Posted by Sue Leonard on Sunday 21st January 2018
Alison worked at the Central bank for a summer, whist still at university. Afterwards, taking an H DIP, she taught for a year, then followed her husband around whilst he pursued his medical career.
“We lived in Limerick, Stockton-On-Tees, North Carolina, London and Cork before settling in Dublin.”
Alison then worked for the Institute of Physics, as their representative in Ireland.
“I loved that, and got back my confidence, but I wanted more, and decided to publish The Visual Time Traveller, which is full of physics. I set up 21C Renaissance.”
Approaching the 40th Anniversary of her mother’s death, she suffered from delayed grief and began frantically writing poems. She developed these through her membership of the Dublin Writer’s Forum, and published Crabbing earlier this year.
Who is Alison Hackett
Date of birth: 5th February 1961 in Cork.
Education: Glengara Park as a boarder. Trinity College Dublin, maths and economics.
Home: Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Family: Husband Justin, a surgeon, grown-up children, Aisling, David and Nicholas, and a grandson, Ethan, 8 months.
The Day Job: Publisher, writer and speaker.
In Another Life: “I’d have been a barrister. I love an argument and thinking logically.”
Favourite Writers: Svetlana Alexievich; Eavan Boland; Doris Lessing; Lionel Shriver; Martha Gellhorn; George Orwell; Virginia Woolf
Fourth Book: “I want to interview doctors about their first year of training, then tell their stories.”
Top Tip: Believe in Yourself; you are your own best critic.
Web: www.21CR.ie Twitter: @21CRenaissance
Current book: Yours Etc. Letters printed in Irish and British papers 2010 – 2017. 21CRenaissance: €25.00
In 2010, finding that her opinion wasn’t being reflected in the letters pages of newspapers, and that women were under-represented, Alison started writing letters to the press. Over the months and years, her success rate in gaining publication grew. Yours etc is a collection of these letters which appeared in The Irish Examiner, The Irish Times, and other papers.
Her interests being wide-ranging, Alison covered politics in Ireland, Britain and America, women’s issues – especially abortion and the eighth amendment – religion, Brexit, social media, and a myriad of other issues.
Sparked by the news – or by the views and comments or others, Alison displays logic in her arguments.
The Verdict: An interesting, readable collection; good for dipping in to.
Published in The Irish Examiner on 30th December, 2017
© Sue Leonard. 2017