Dan Sheehan
Dan Sheehan’s mother wanted her four children to study for an employable job; instead they chose the arts, with Dan’s youngest brother following him into a career in writing. This was, perhaps, inevitable. “There’s weren’t writers…
Mary Watson
Always a prolific reader, Mary wrote and illustrated her first book, aged five. She loved learning, and adored life at university. Studying Creative Writing in South Africa, under the tutelage of Andre Brink, she wrote a…
Patricia Gibney
Patricia’s first ambition was to be a journalist, but after school, she went into the civil service. “I started in the postal section of children’s allowance during Ireland’s longest postal strike in 1979. After three months…
Norma MacMaster
Norma sent her first story to RTE when she was 8. They sent it back saying there was a flaw in the plot. Her parents wanted her to become a pharmacist, and work in the family…
Patrick Chapman
Patrick’s writing life started at age 6, with comics. Then he started writing adventure stories. After college, he worked in advertising, for various companies, covering accounts such as Aer Lingus, An Post, and Guinness. “I worked…
Dr Rangan Chatterjee
Son of a hospital consultant, Rangan has always been interested in medicine. But he’s also passionate about sport, and music; at 11, he learned four instruments. “After university I worked in Edinburgh for two years. I’d…
Sheila Llewellyn
When Sheila was 8, she moved, with her father, to British Ghana. There was no school, so She spent her days reading in the mining camp library, or being tutored by her father, up country. But…
Peter Caray
The opening section of Peter Carey’s latest novel is pitch perfect. Within the first four paragraphs, he encapsulates the delightfully unconventional characteristics of all but one of the main characters. It’s a masterclass, and what follows…
Debut Roundup. January 2018
Andrew Meehan. One Star Awake. New Island: €13.95 Eva finds herself in a Paris restaurant, with no memory of her past. She’s a kitchen hand, and there are many people protecting her, but life is pretty difficult…
Clare Daly
Clare’s original ambition was to be a film writer. And while she was at college, she worked part time in her local cinema. “It was my dream job, because I could see the films for free.”…
Mary Manning
A lifelong reader, Mary started with Enid Blyton, progressing to Jane Austen. After school, she took an ANCO – (now FAS,) course in office work, then spent 10 months working in an office in Jordan Street….
Anthony Carragher
Anthony has always loved reading. “As a child, I devoured books from the library,” he says. “My grandfather used to drink with the poet, Patrick Kavanagh, and I found the stories he told very romantic.” Mad…