A few years ago, I stumbled across Limerick writer Rose Servitova’s debut novel The Longbourn Letters. It was an imagining of the correspondence between Pride and Prejudice’s most eccentric gentlemen, Mr Bennet and Mr Collins. As a fervent Jane Austen fan, I was curious but trepidatious, having read various poor pastiches over the years. But… Read More A Season at Sanditon Q&A with Rose Servitova
Anyone who reads this blog regularly will know that I’m a huge fan of Fiction at the Friary, a monthly literary salon that takes place here in Cork. It is hosted by award-winning writers Danielle McLaughlin and Madeleine D’Arcy, and features a different guest author each month talking about their work, along with an optional… Read More Fiction at the Friary Q&A with Madeleine D’Arcy
Full disclosure, I’m not impartial in the case of this particular interview. It’s not an exaggeration to say that guest author Laura McKenna is the reason I’m writing today. Back in 2014, I spotted a sign on the noticeboard of the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork. It was for a six-week writing class, using the… Read More Words to Shape My Name author Q&A
Most of the author interviews I do are with writers celebrating the release of their first books. Today I’m delighted to welcome back Nicola Cassidy, who I interviewed back in 2017 about her historical debut December Girl. This month sees the publication of her third novel, Adele. It recounts the real-life story of Adele Astaire,… Read More Adele Q&A
Where would today’s emerging writers be without Twitter? It’s a wonderful forum for promoting your work, not to mention connecting with like-minded people on an international level. One of the writers I’ve come to know virtually is UK-based Laura Besley, whose debut collection has been published in the past week amid very challenging times for… Read More The Almost Mothers Q&A
As is the modern way, many writers these days connect through Twitter. UK writer Adam Lock is one such person whose excellent short fiction I’ve come to know from a variety of online journals that use Twitter as their main promotional tool. I was interested to see recently that he was also on the brink… Read More Dinosaur author Q&A
Cork writer Billy O’Callaghan is probably best known as a short story writer: winner of the inaugural Short Story of the Year prize at the Irish Book Awards in 2013, runner up for the 2016 Costa Short Story Prize and the 2017 choice for Cork’s One City, One Book with his collection The Things We… Read More My Coney Island Baby author Q&A
Eagle-eyed readers may have spotted one or two mentions of Cork literary salon Fiction at the Friary on this blog in the past. Among the many interesting people I’ve met there is Cork-based writer Catherine Kirwan. The very first time we spoke, Catherine had just had some interesting news about a manuscript she had tentatively… Read More Darkest Truth author Q&A
Tadhg Coakley is a Cork writer whose debut novel is set against the high-stakes backdrop of an All-Ireland hurling final. The First Sunday in September (so-titled because that’s when the final is traditionally played) tells 19 different characters’ stories, drawn together by a day of high emotion both on and off the pitch. I spoke to… Read More The First Sunday in September author Q&A
For the past year or two, I’ve been following the Irish Writers Podcast, presented by aspiring novelists Máire Brophy, Cathy Clarke and Kate Mulholland. On it, they discuss their respective writing journeys, and I was delighted to discover recently that Máire had succeeded in sending her first book out into the world. It’s a fantasy tale, which… Read More After the World author Q&A
Word herding 