Lisa Harding
Around eight years ago Lisa Harding gave up acting. She had been a successful ingenue – playing Juliette in London, where she gained substantial roles in plays by Tennessee Williams. But later, the parts she was…
John Ware
John Ware has been passionately interested in history for his entire life. And, specifically, in the events of the First World War. As a child, he devoured war stories – both factual and from his comics,…
Eithne Shorthall
Eithne Shortall has always been driven. And although, growing up, she wanted to be an actress, or a poet, having decided, for practical purposes to study journalism, she’s never looked back. She went straight from Dublin…
Cork’s One City One Book.
I’m thrilled , and honoured to have been asked to Launch Cork’s One City One Book for 2021. Now in it’s 6th Year, this is a fabulous initiative, which encourages book loving Corkonians to read and…
Sue Divin
Sue wrote poetry as a teenager, and considered journalism, but instead studied European Studies. After taking an MA, she taught in secondary schools in Derry for seven years. “I loved teaching teenagers, but I…
Ciara Geraghty
The heroine in Ciara Geraghty’s latest novel prefers figures to people; order is essential to Marianne Cross. So when she loses her job, her house and her marriage, and has to return to her shambolic childhood…
John Patrick McHugh
John Patrick moved a lot as a young child, living in Tipperary, Mitchellstown, Mallow and Macroom before settling in Galway aged 12. “Achill was my concrete place,” he says, remembering time spent there with his grandparents….
Ericka Waller
An avid reader, Ericka devoured books from the library. “If I didn’t like the ending of a book, I would rewrite it,” she says. “I was good at rhyming poetry, and I wrote songs for…
Catherine Talbot
Catherine is a lifelong prolific reader. “As a child, I loved libraries, and I was always interested in the lives of writers.” After school Catherine started a marketing course, but disliking it, began working in the…
Trish Kearney
After school, Trish became a nurse – working for five years after she qualified. “I went to Australia, and when I came home I got married. The following year I had my first daughter and stayed…
Laura McKenna
An avid reader, Laura loved poetry as a child. “I was always writing, and I entered a few competitions,” she says. Early in her career as a doctor, Laura worked in a Dublin drug treatment centre….
Charlotte McConaghy
As a child, Charlotte lived in 21 different houses – moving constantly, around Australia. “Reading became my anchor. My mum suggested I should write a book. I started at 14, and three years later the book…