AUTHOR INTERVIEWS

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Author interview: Boyne offers an eerie insight into the dynamics of abuse
Author interview: Boyne offers an eerie insight into the dynamics of abuse
Though prolific author John Boyne admits he didn’t initially plan on writing a series, he has recently released the third of four linked novellas exploring abuse

Fri, 08 Nov, 2024

Beginner’s pluck: Ferdia Lennon's 'Glorious Exploits' is mind-blowingly good
Beginner’s pluck: Ferdia Lennon's 'Glorious Exploits' is mind-blowingly good
Son of an Irish mother and Libyan father, Ferdia was brought up by his mum in Tallaght. As a child, he adored narrative and would make up stories using his toys. “I loved cinema too.

Sun, 03 Nov, 2024

Author interview: Eibhlís Carcione: 'My love of spooky stories goes back to my childhood'
Author interview: Eibhlís Carcione: 'My love of spooky stories goes back to my childhood'
Writer's spine-chillingly scary book Black Gables is set beside a lake in the creepiest school in the world

Fri, 01 Nov, 2024

Beginner’s pluck: 'The Faerie Isle' is a magical book to treasure
Beginner’s pluck: 'The Faerie Isle' is a magical book to treasure
Síne Quinn's stunningly beautiful book tells of 16 types of Faeries in Irish folklore, giving us facts and history followed by imaginative retellings and new stories

Sat, 26 Oct, 2024

Hay Festival 2022
Author interview: Rankin and Rebus raise a glass to their silver anniversary
'Midnight and Blue' is the 25th outing for Ian Rankin’s complicated, cranky but much-loved protagonist, Detective John Rebus

Fri, 25 Oct, 2024

"Isolation Island" By Louise Minchin - Book Launch
Beginner’s pluck: TV presenter and journalist Louise Minchin
The surprises and shocks keep coming in the clever, atmospheric, and twisty 'Isolation Island'

Sat, 19 Oct, 2024

Prime Suspect 30th Anniversary: Lynda La Plante - Photocall
Author interview: By the book: La Plante recounts a life defined by crime writing
The 81-year-old has utilised her storytelling skills  to great effect in her memoir, fittingly titled 'How to Get Away With Murder'

Fri, 18 Oct, 2024

Author interview: When something about brand Beatles strikes a chord
Author interview: When something about brand Beatles strikes a chord
There are very few biographies of The Beatles, Patrick Humphries' 'With the Beatles' covers their career in three parts, 1940-1963, 1964-1970, and 1970 to the present day

Fri, 18 Oct, 2024

Beginner’s pluck: Comedian and podcaster Killian Sundermann
Beginner’s pluck: Comedian and podcaster Killian Sundermann
'Country Fail: Some C***t’s Guide to the countryside' is highly original; an inventively funny spoof

Sat, 12 Oct, 2024

Beginner’s pluck: Journalist Laura Kennedy
Beginner’s pluck: Journalist Laura Kennedy
'Some of Our Parts' is clever, humourous, and profoundly thought provoking. It makes you question your core values, and reevaluate your story

Sat, 05 Oct, 2024

Author interview: Cauvery’s West Cork novel has links to her love for the area
Author interview: Cauvery’s West Cork novel has links to her love for the area
Cauvery talked so much about her love for west Cork that finally she persuaded her husband that she needed a house there to write in

Fri, 04 Oct, 2024

Beginner’s pluck: Harriet Constable hits the right note with debut
Beginner’s pluck: Harriet Constable hits the right note with debut
'The Instrumentalist' is a brilliant look at patronage, musical genius, and the power of a patriarchal society

Sat, 28 Sep, 2024

Beginner’s pluck: Debut poetry collection of Gustav Parker Hibbett
Beginner’s pluck: Debut poetry collection of Gustav Parker Hibbett
This superb collection examines what it feels like when you don’t fit in; whether that’s through blackness or queerness, and it does so in the most inventive and lyrical way

Sat, 21 Sep, 2024

British journalist and author Robert Har
Author interview: A moment when the world tips over into something else
In 'Precipice' Robert Harris sees 1914 — the year of the outbreak of the First World War — as the great watershed in Western history

Fri, 20 Sep, 2024

Sally Rooney: I don’t want to be the centre of attention like that ever again
Sally Rooney: I don’t want to be the centre of attention like that ever again
Sally Rooney on romance, writing about sex, the Normal People phenomenon and her new novel, Intermezzo

Mon, 16 Sep, 2024

Roddy Doyle
Author interview: Roddy Doyle on the unexpected side-effect of working with Roy Keane
Doyle's new book 'The Woman Behind the Door' revisits the unforgettable character of Paula Spencer who has appeared in several of his novels

Sun, 15 Sep, 2024

Beginner’s pluck: Evie Woods self-published her first book in 2013
Beginner’s pluck: Evie Woods self-published her first book in 2013
'The Story Collection' is a perfect mix of everyday life and the supernatural

Sat, 14 Sep, 2024

Author interview: Location for a story is very important to me
Author interview: Location for a story is very important to me
Christine Dwyer Hickey has loved the English capital since she spent a brief but formative time there as a young girl; it is an experience that has informed her latest novel 'Our London Lives'

Fri, 06 Sep, 2024

Author interview: Hobby author? Graham Norton is a serious book man
Author interview: Hobby author? Graham Norton is a serious book man
He wouldn’t acknowledge it but his skills as a writer are clear on the page. However, he isn’t the slightest bit offended by any suggestion that he is not a ‘proper’ writer

Fri, 06 Sep, 2024

Beginner’s pluck: Ramzee's book shows the challenges of being an outsider
Beginner’s pluck: Ramzee's book shows the challenges of being an outsider
'The Cheat Book' is based, partly the author's own life; he wanted a refugee character who is a scamp — and is just like everyone else

Sat, 31 Aug, 2024

Beginner's pluck: 'Black Butterflies' author Priscilla Morris
Beginner's pluck: 'Black Butterflies' author Priscilla Morris
This astonishing debut shows kindness in the face of trauma, and illustrates how art helps to overcome a part of tragedy

Sat, 24 Aug, 2024

SARAH REES BRENNAN
Sarah Rees Brennan: How my cancer treatment inspired my new book — and my 'villain era'
Sarah Rees Brennan became blind in one eye as a child and underwent treatment for stage four cancer in adulthood. The YA author has now written her first adult novel. Her experiences have shaped the narrative

Sat, 10 Aug, 2024

Author interview: Reality of rural life brought to the fore in anticipated sequel
Author interview: Reality of rural life brought to the fore in anticipated sequel
Heart, be at peace sees Donal Ryan return to the world of The Spinning Heart, which was set in his native North Tipperary in the aftermath of the financial crash in 2008

Fri, 09 Aug, 2024

Beginner’s Pluck: 'I always knew I wanted to be a writer'
Beginner’s Pluck: 'I always knew I wanted to be a writer'
Penelope Slocombe's 'Sunbirds' is immersive, atmospheric, and beautifully written

Sat, 03 Aug, 2024

UAE-ENVIRONMENT-AVIATION-ENERGY-EMIRATES
Author interview: The battle to beat emissions and reach net zero can indeed be won
Reaching net zero will require switching energy use from fossil fuels to electricity, which will come from renewable sources, like solar panels and wind turbines

Fri, 02 Aug, 2024

Beginner’s Pluck: Writer and producer Karen Fitzgibbon
Beginner’s Pluck: Writer and producer Karen Fitzgibbon
'The World's End' is page-turner that keeps you guessing throughout

Sat, 27 Jul, 2024

Beginner’s pluck: 'Bodies' author Christine Anne Foley
Beginner’s pluck: 'Bodies' author Christine Anne Foley
'Bodies' follows Charlotte as she navigates increasingly toxic relationships through her teens, through college and during her teaching career

Sat, 20 Jul, 2024

Author interview: Why Catherine Dunne is more than a good enough writer
Author interview: Why Catherine Dunne is more than a good enough writer
While Catherine is revered by the literary community in Ireland, her novels don’t get anything like the attention, or the sales, that they do in Europe

Fri, 19 Jul, 2024

Beginner’s Pluck: Award-winning short story writer Roisin Maguire
Beginner’s Pluck: Award-winning short story writer Roisin Maguire
'Night Swimmers' is a wonderful evocation of a small community peopled by brilliantly drawn characters

Sat, 13 Jul, 2024

Author interview: A hard-hitting story of middle-aged love from the author of ‘The Slap’
Author interview: A hard-hitting story of middle-aged love from the author of ‘The Slap’
Author Christos Tsiolkas was wondering what it would be like if you had to start a new relationship in your 50s

Fri, 12 Jul, 2024

Author interview: Jordan’s engaging life story challenges idea of memory
Author interview: Jordan’s engaging life story challenges idea of memory
When Neil Jordan was first approached to write a memoir, he wasn’t sure he could do it but started on the opening chapter about his mother 'and I thought, this is interesting, and I kept going'

Fri, 12 Jul, 2024

Beginner’s Pluck: Freelance editor Amy Ewing
Beginner’s Pluck: Freelance editor Amy Ewing
Amy Ewing's 'Worth a Shot' is a gorgeous, heartfelt, feelgood romance

Sat, 06 Jul, 2024

Author interview: Gripping podcast from Australia brought a sick teacher to justice
Author interview: Gripping podcast from Australia brought a sick teacher to justice
'The Teacher's Pet' digs into the disappearance of Lynette Simms in Sydney over 40 years ago, and the possible involvement of her husband Chris Dawson, but soon branched into several other areas

Fri, 05 Jul, 2024

Beginner’s pluck: Richy Craven's novel is tragic, yet funny
Beginner’s pluck: Richy Craven's novel is tragic, yet funny
'Your first draft will never match what’s in your head. Don’t worry. No one will ever read it'

Sat, 29 Jun, 2024

David Nicholls
Author interview: Nicholls’ latest romance tells a complex tale of love
Author in enviable position of having two books on the bestseller list

Mon, 17 Jun, 2024

Beginner’s Pluck: Canadian writer Paul Carlucci
Beginner’s Pluck: Canadian writer Paul Carlucci
The shocking brutality in the dramatic tale in 'The Voyageur' is offset by some beautiful writing

Sat, 15 Jun, 2024

Author interview: Environmentalist Lily Kingsolver
Author interview: Environmentalist Lily Kingsolver
'Coyote’s Wild Home' is not only a beautifully illustrated story about coyotes it is also a teaching tool

Fri, 14 Jun, 2024

Author interview: Popular crime fiction writer Jo Spain
Author interview: Popular crime fiction writer Jo Spain
Her latest novel 'The Trial' is a big-pharma medical thriller with a different kind of trial

Fri, 14 Jun, 2024

Beginner’s Pluck: Author of 'Mouthing' Orla Mackey
Beginner’s Pluck: Author of 'Mouthing' Orla Mackey
Like the novels of Elizabeth Strout, Mackey’s writing is overflowing with empathy and heart

Sat, 01 Jun, 2024

Beginner’s Pluck: Belfast-born writer Aimée Walsh
Beginner’s Pluck: Belfast-born writer Aimée Walsh
'Exile' is a brilliant novel about friendship, consent and displacement from a vibrant new voice

Sat, 25 May, 2024

A mysterious mountain scales new heights for breakout Irish author
A mysterious mountain scales new heights for breakout Irish author
Rónán Hession’s debut novel has been an increasing rarity in the world of publishing, a book that built gradually from virtually zero hype to become a huge word-of-mouth hit

Fri, 24 May, 2024

Beginner’s Pluck: Historian and writer Juliana Adelman
Beginner’s Pluck: Historian and writer Juliana Adelman
Atmospheric debut brings 19th century Dublin to life

Sat, 18 May, 2024

Book review: A glorious read both literary and page-turning with corkscrew twists
Book review: A glorious read both literary and page-turning with corkscrew twists
It's no surprise that Andrew Hughes' clever mystery novel 'Emma, Disappeared' has been published to rave reviews

Fri, 17 May, 2024

‘I realised I could write a big story... I never thought I would’
‘I realised I could write a big story... I never thought I would’
Niamh Mulvey's debut novel, spanning three generations of women, is a 'book that demanded to be written'

Fri, 17 May, 2024

Beginner’s Pluck: Children's book author Jen Wallace
Beginner’s Pluck: Children's book author Jen Wallace
Dinosaur Pie is a gorgeous, funny tale for kids from aged six

Sat, 11 May, 2024

Do our experiences define our push for sex over biological imperatives?
Do our experiences define our push for sex over biological imperatives?
The main argument Darian Leader's book, 'Is It Ever Just Sex?', presents is that sex is never simple or straightforward

Fri, 10 May, 2024

Empathy the most important quality for short story writer
Empathy the most important quality for short story writer
‘Cork Stories’ includes stories by Kevin Barry, Danny Denton, Mary Morrissy, Martina Evans, Danielle McLoughlin, Jamie O’Connell, and William Wall

Fri, 10 May, 2024

Beginner’s Pluck: 'When We Were Silent' author Fiona McPhillips
Beginner’s Pluck: 'When We Were Silent' author Fiona McPhillips
Fiona worked as a music journalist, then in sports journalism, and when her children were born, she wrote features

Sat, 04 May, 2024

Beginner’s Pluck: Author of 'Teeth' John Patrick Higgins
Beginner’s Pluck: Author of 'Teeth' John Patrick Higgins
John Patrick tells of his ordeal of having seven teeth removed in one afternoon with a light humourous touch

Sat, 27 Apr, 2024

Leeanne
Magic from landscape sparked inspiration for debut novel
The clash of the magical and the rational is a theme Leeanne O’Donnell explores in 'Sparks of Bright Matter' 

Fri, 26 Apr, 2024

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