Ian McEwan: ‘Literature is an ocean in which we’re all swimming’Ian McEwan pays homage to Yeats and Joyce in his new novel, which, in its story of a boy refusing a blood transfusion, dramatises one of the great confrontations of our time, between law and religionSat Sept 06 2014 - 01:00
The Surfacing: an icy tale into unfamiliar territoryCormac James’s new novel is set on a ship sent to search for survivors of John Franklin’s expeditionThu Aug 28 2014 - 01:00
Howard Jacobson: ‘Confident people don’t write novels’Writers are never certain, says the novelist, but winning the Man Booker Prize gave him the confidence to radically depart from his trusted style for his latest novel, ‘J’Sat Aug 23 2014 - 01:00
The Times We Lived In: Full steam ahead to crush film piratesFirst published: August 11th 1984 Photograph by Dermot O’SheaSat Aug 16 2014 - 01:00
‘In a dance class, you are often made to feel you must apologise for your body’African-American dancer Wanjiru Kamuyu explores notions of beautyThu Aug 14 2014 - 01:00
Grey skies and showers no match for Kilkenny festivalThe rain proved no deterrent to festival goers keen to soak up ShakespeareMon Aug 11 2014 - 12:48
Kilkenny Arts Festival aims to stretch legs as well as mindsThe Marble City is bracing itself for mayhem and merriment, not to mention an estimated 45,000 visitorsMon Aug 11 2014 - 12:48
The Times We Lived In: Waxing lyrical – thumbs up for BottlerPublished: July 8th, 1989 Photograph: Jack McManusSat Aug 02 2014 - 01:00
Cathy Dineen: relics revisitedThe ‘Solvitur Ambulando’ exhibition showing at the Grennan Mill Craft School in Kilkenny presents experiences, events and stories from the life of the artistSat Aug 02 2014 - 01:00
The Times We Lived In: Having a whale of a timePublished: July 18th , 1954 Photograph by Dermot BarrySat Jul 26 2014 - 01:00
The Times We Lived In: Lording it up in a fairytale carriagePublished: August 8th, 1981 Photograph by Peter ThursfieldSat Jul 19 2014 - 01:00
I almost jumped out of my skin: Coal CreekReview: it seems nigh on impossible to reveal anything about the plot without giving away too muchSat Jul 12 2014 - 01:00
Soul food aplenty as visitors flock to Hay Festival KellsLouis de Bernieres and Jung Chang among authors to read at Co Meath eventSun Jul 06 2014 - 16:00
Literary feast as Hay makes second cut at KellsIn person, Jeremy Paxman is as bossy and opinionated – although not as tall – as you would expectSat Jul 05 2014 - 01:02
Bullying, surveillance and exile: a childhood in Ceausescu’s RomaniaCarmen Bugan’s memoir relates a tale of psychological cruelty after her father was imprisoned by Romania’s secret policeThu Jul 03 2014 - 01:00
Welcome to Ballyturk: darkness, stress and a joker in the packEnda Walsh’s intense new play brings together an all-star cast of Cillian Murphy, Stephen Rea and Mikel Murfi. Are they looking forward to being put under ‘tremendous strain’ by Walsh?Tue Jul 01 2014 - 01:00
The Times We Lived In: Son of Shergar’s coltish vulnerabilityPublished: November 21st, 1983.Photograph by Matt KavanaghSat Jun 28 2014 - 01:00
Salman Rushdie: from Mordor verse to Midnight’s ChildrenHe likes to blur the lines between fact and fiction, and if pushed he might recite some Tolkien in Elvish – this is not the type of conversation one associates with RushdieTue Jun 17 2014 - 01:00
A Mad and Wonderful Thing: A brother, the Real IRA and a Troubles fableMark Mulholland’s debut novel, set in the North, has a remarkable real-life parallelSat Jun 14 2014 - 01:00
Holloway, by Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood and Dan RichardsPaperback reviewSat Jun 14 2014 - 01:00
The Times We Lived In: Marching on for Big Jim LarkinA solemn laying to rest of the giant of trade union history and general Dublin legendSat Jun 14 2014 - 01:00
And the winner of the Best Place to Go Wild in Ireland is . . .This year’s winner was chosen for its balance of nature, activities, wilderness and beautySat Jun 07 2014 - 01:00
The Sturm und Drang of the world’s biggest theatre showWith its multimillion-euro budget, cast of 140, computer-controlled set and shifting seats, the musical ‘14-18’ aims to take its audience to the heart of the first World War, so many of whose battles were fought in nearby Flanders fieldsSat May 31 2014 - 01:00
The times we lived in: The good old days with Jack on the ballPhotograph by Peter Thursfield published: June 20th, 1988Sat May 31 2014 - 01:00
Heavyweight hit thriller shows big can be bountifulThe massive success of Jöel Dicker’s 600-page murder mystery proves that rumours of the demise of weighty tomes have been greatly exaggeratedFri May 30 2014 - 01:00
Roddy Doyle: ‘Of the 10 novels I’ve written, only one stands alone’The Dublin writer is juggling a new book, ‘Brilliant’, a hush-hush new television series, Roy Keane, and the musical of ‘The Commitments’. And the next once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is just around the cornerSat May 24 2014 - 01:00
Davy Byrnes story award: shortlist of six revealedTales of isolation in small-town Ireland, a boys’ football team, post-war Finland, the end of the world, a difficult daughter, and soured relationships vie for the €15,000 prizeFri May 23 2014 - 11:57
Communion memories: the dress and the big dayThree women who still have their First Holy Communion dresses look back on ‘an important rite of passage’Wed Apr 23 2014 - 01:00
A good Friday for fish? Hard choices on the menuFor Catholics, eating fish today is said to be good for the soul. But what about the sole?Fri Apr 18 2014 - 01:00
Donna Leon: ‘I had the good sense to make Brunetti someone I liked’Donna Leon’s much-loved crime series centring on nice guy policeman Commissario Guido Brunetti is 22 years old. The new novel discusses the very nature of booksThu Apr 17 2014 - 01:00
The mystery of Sebastian Barry’s grandfatherThe main character of Barry’s latest novel, who is no angel, is inspired by the writer’s late grandfather, who had disapproved of his grandson’s fictionalising of family loreTue Apr 01 2014 - 01:00
Astonishing debut about the Chernobyl tragedyDarragh McKeon’s individuals are atomic particles adrift in a vast universeSat Mar 29 2014 - 01:00
John Banville: channelling ChandlerWith Quirke, he pounded the pavements of 1950s Dublin. Now the novelist takes on the great LA gumshoe Philip MarloweThu Mar 20 2014 - 01:00
‘Tales of the City’, from a column to a canonAuthor Armistead Maupin’s frank vision of San Francisco has won millions of fansMon Mar 10 2014 - 01:00
The original ‘Sive’ stars: from John B’s dispensary with dramatic effectAs ‘Sive’ strides across the Abbey stage, two actors who formed part of the original cast share their memories of Keane’s early, enduring writing in ListowelMon Mar 03 2014 - 01:00
