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,…
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…
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…
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 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 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…
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…
The first rule of author interviewing, is don’t, ever, be late. Especially if the writer has flown in and has a packed-out schedule for the day. But once, when I was due to meet the duo…
Arriving to interview Joseph O’Connor, I got locked into an apartment carpark next door to the hotel; when I tell Joe this, he launches into a narrative, about what else might go wrong for me today….
A farmer’s daughter, and youngest of three, Sheila grew up listening to stories of the fifties when emigration was rife. “My father was a seannachie, and the village I lived in was steeped in drama. I…
As a child Peter moved from California to Vermont, and then on to Cape Cod. Originally, Peter wanted to be a theatre major, but his months studying in Dublin changed all that. “I had my awakening…
Last ones left alive. Sarah Davis-Goff. Tinder. Orpen is walking along the road pushing a wheelbarrow, her black dog, danger, by her side. Her blackened toenail falls off – her fingers blister, but the pain is…