Author Martin Waddell: ‘When I got blown up, I was no longer fit to write. I lost several years’The author on writing stories with ‘emotional punch’ for children, walking in to a bomb during the Troubles, and his less-than-flattering opinion of writers as peopleSat Nov 23 2024 - 05:00
Colm Tóibín’s Long Island is Waterstones Irish Book of the YearBooks newsletter: A preview of Saturday’s pages; Richard Flanagan wins Baillie Gifford Prize; Irish translator wins Stephen Spender Prize; MS Readathon; (S)worn State(s) launch at MoLI; Never Too Late Award; Dublin Literary Award judges; Limerick Writers’ Centre launch; Rory Brennan diesFri Nov 22 2024 - 12:16
Children’s author Sibéal Pounder: ‘I was bullied at school. It made me analyse people in a forensic way’Sibéal Pounder, author of children’s book Sprouts, on writing for ‘the most important people in the world’, her admiration for Violet Beauregard, and her ability to forensically analyse peopleSat Nov 16 2024 - 05:00
Ella Sloane wins Sarah Cecilia Harrison PrizeBooks newsletter: Reading campaign for Dublin teenagers; Bookselling Ireland report; preview of Saturday’s pagesThu Nov 14 2024 - 15:05
‘Small, strange, beautiful’ Orbital by Samantha Harvey wins 2024 Booker Prize‘A book about a wounded world’ set on International Space Station is one of the shortest to win £50,000 awardTue Nov 12 2024 - 21:53
Booker Prize 2024: who do you think will win?Have your say on which of the six novels on the shortlist should emerge victoriousMon Nov 11 2024 - 19:00
John Boyne: ‘I’ve reviewed books by friends and occasionally by antagonists but there’s only one I regret’Author on latest book in his four-part cycle about abuse and inviting JK Rowling to his dream dinner partySun Nov 10 2024 - 05:00
Vona Groarke wins 2024 Michel Déon PrizeBooks newsletter: a preview of Saturday’s pages; PEN Heaney Prize and Waterstones Book of the Year shortlists; Writers in the Attic; Robert Fisk archive at TCD; Little Island’s Carnegie successFri Nov 08 2024 - 08:48
Suad Aldarra awarded Rooney Prize for Irish Literature Syrian-Irish writer’s memoir I Don’t Want to Talk About Home was published in 2022Mon Nov 04 2024 - 18:30
Author Eliza Clark: ‘When you live in London you’re constantly at risk of seeing something mad and upsetting’She’s Always Hungry author on her dislike of ‘forced’ short stories, her love of Prague and the best way to order your booksSat Nov 02 2024 - 04:45
Luke Morgan wins Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award Books newsletter: preview of Saturday’s pages; Caroline Madden book deal; Nicola Rose O’Hara film deal; John McGahern Prize deadlineThu Oct 31 2024 - 12:48
Felicity Hayes-McCoy: ‘So many of Ireland’s revolutionary women felt disillusioned and betrayed after the State was set up’The author on the genre she calls ‘uplit’, the ‘perfect balance’ of living between London and the Kerry Gaeltacht, and her admiration for Greta ThunbergSun Oct 27 2024 - 05:16
John Banville: ‘I expected to be dead, or at least gaga, by now’Author on his new book, The Drowned, his enduring appetite for writing as he nears 80, and the most remarkable place he has visitedSat Oct 19 2024 - 05:00
A tribute to Nell McCaffertyBooks newsletter: Irish Writers’ Weekend in London; Kit de Waal to judge Women’s Prize for Fiction; Oscar Wilde exhibition; Korean prize for Anna BurnsFri Oct 18 2024 - 10:34
Ian Rankin: ‘Serious writers are attracted to the crime novel because it takes on morally complex themes in a digestible way’The Rebus creator on his flawed police inspector’s fall from grace, the Jekyll and Hyde sides of his hometown Edinburgh and the genius of Muriel SparkSat Oct 12 2024 - 05:00
Circling The Square hits the spotBooks newsletter: Forward prizes; Baillie Gifford shortlist; Claire Keegan wins Lenz Prize; Bookshop of the Year; Writer of Courage 2024; Tanya Sweeney book deal; Leaves Festival; Macavity AwardsThu Oct 10 2024 - 21:45
Nobel Prize in Literature 2024: South Korean author Han Kang winsWriter won the Man Booker International Prize for fiction in 2016 for The VegetarianThu Oct 10 2024 - 12:03
‘We used to be invisible as Irish speakers in Belfast but there’s a new confidence now to shout it from the rooftops’Children’s writer Máire Zepf talks about her books and TV work, and how Kneecap bringing ‘beautiful, real Belfast Irish’ to the big screen has been powerfulSun Oct 06 2024 - 05:00
Anne Haverty to give Stinging Fly annual lectureBooks newsletter: Tomorrow’s pages; Irish judges for Nero awards; Rooney Writer Fellow; ISLA, Bram Stoker, IMRAM and Murder One festivals; Irish Book Week; Publishers for PalestineThu Oct 03 2024 - 17:04
Sally Rooney’s novel Intermezzo is fastest-selling book in Republic this yearNormal People author’s title sold almost 12,000 copies in first five days on marketTue Oct 01 2024 - 18:32
Author Janice Hallett: ‘The thing about childhood trauma is, you’re always coming back from it’The writer on scripting, art, crime genre, epistolary murder-mysteries and her admiration for healthcare workersSun Sept 29 2024 - 05:00
Irish Times political correspondent Jennifer Bray signs book deal after three-way auctionSandycove is to publish ‘atmospheric, pacey, tense and plotty’ debut novelSat Sept 28 2024 - 05:00
Freyja Hellebust wins Gerald Griffin CompetitionBooks newsletter: Saturday’s pages; Belfast International Arts Festival; Red Line Book Festival; TS Eliot lecture; Allingham Festival; Oisín Fagan book deal; Semaus Heaney fellows; In Their Shoes podcastFri Sept 27 2024 - 16:20
Sally Rooney: what the critics say about her new novel, IntermezzoPlus, what the writer said in conversation with Fintan O’Toole in the National Concert Hall on SaturdayMon Sept 23 2024 - 14:08
Autumn culture preview 2024: The biggest films, TV shows, books, music, theatre and exhibitions to catchFrom Paul Mescal in Gladiator II and Cate Blanchett in Disclaimer to Nick Cave at 3Arena and Brian Maguire at the Hugh LaneSat Sept 21 2024 - 05:15
Author Martina Devlin: ‘I believe in an agreed Ireland and meeting one another is a way to find common ground’‘I like a deep dive into research and a real person leaves a trail. Also, there is name recognition for readers’Sat Sept 21 2024 - 05:00
Children’s Books Ireland reading guide launched Books newsletter: Saturday’s pages previewed; Wendy Erskine, Fíona Scarlett, Seán Farrell book deals; TCD arts festival; Italian book festival; Anne Enright event; Dayton Literary Peace Prize; MoLI seeks new directorFri Sept 20 2024 - 12:45
Booker Prize 2024 shortlist: women dominate but sole male author is a likely favourite‘Literary recognition is often still reserved for men’ observes judge Sara Collins as record number of women make six-strong shortlistMon Sept 16 2024 - 19:30
Carlo Gébler: ‘I want Irish unification and Northern Ireland in Europe. We do not belong in a UK that is not in Europe’The writer talks about his new book, the future of Northern Ireland and a treasured penSat Sept 14 2024 - 05:00
Sally Rooney: ‘I often think it would have been better if I had published my work under an assumed name’Intermezzo author reflects on Joyce, how Christianity has shaped her thinking, and her dislike of the limelightSat Sept 14 2024 - 05:00
Lucy Caldwell up for BBC short story awardBooks newsletter: a wrap of the latest news and preview of Saturday’s pagesThu Sept 12 2024 - 20:00
Matt Haig: ‘ADHD and autism has helped me be more compassionate to myself, but I am not being defined by it’The Midnight Library author Matt Haig talks about his new novel, ‘double-edged’ success and being diagnosed recently with ADHD and autismSun Sept 08 2024 - 05:14
These were our killing fields: one parish disfigured by decades of death, destruction and collusionIt is hard to believe this place once hosted vibrant industry and deadly sectarian violenceSat Sept 07 2024 - 05:45
Eimear McBride returns with new novelBooks newsletter: a wrap of the latest news and preview of Saturday’s pagesThu Sept 05 2024 - 09:52
Joseph O’Connor headlines Letters for LifeBooks newsletter: a wrap of the latest news and preview of Saturday’s pagesThu Aug 29 2024 - 11:21
Marianne Power: ‘It starts with me having yet another failed romance’London-Irish author on summers in Ballybunion, the chip shop on her street, and her new book, Love Me!Sat Aug 24 2024 - 05:00
Mags McLoughlin appointed new head of Irish Writers CentreBooks newsletter: a wrap of the latest news and events and a preview of Saturday’s pagesThu Aug 22 2024 - 12:03
Stuart Neville: ‘Barely more than a generation beyond the Belfast Agreement, the Troubles are being sterilised’The crime writer on his latest novel, his admiration for John Connolly, and his rock’n’roll sidelineSat Aug 17 2024 - 05:00
Michael Russell: ‘The Yorkshire Ripper murders made me uneasy with TV violence, especially towards women’The writer on the latest in his series of Stefan Gillespie crime novels, his Irish family’s tall tales, and great writing adviceSat Aug 10 2024 - 07:00
Author Charlotte Mendelson: ‘There’s nothing more fascinating than other people’s marriages, particularly when they start to go wrong.’The author on her ‘darkest, queerest novel yet’, what makes Iris Murdoch special and the words she would abolishSat Aug 03 2024 - 05:00
Gillian Anderson to star in Channel 4 film of Louise Kennedy’s TrespassesBooks newsletter: a preview of tomorrow’s pages and a wrap of the latest newsFri Aug 02 2024 - 10:27
Booker Prize 2024 longlist: Irish author Colin Barrett makes 13-strong listThe judges called Mayo writer’s Wild Houses ‘a propulsive, darkly comic account of misadventure in a small Irish town’Tue Jul 30 2024 - 14:00
Writers pay tribute to Edna O’Brien, whose fearless honesty changed IrelandPresident Michael D Higgins among those saluting a ‘superb writer possessed of the moral courage to confront Irish society’ who has died in London at 93Mon Jul 29 2024 - 06:00
Writers pay tribute to Edna O’Brien: her voice ‘was loud as a bell; fluid and intelligent’President Michael D Higgins, Eimear McBride, John Banville, Sinéad Gleeson, Nuala O’Connor and others pay tribute to late Irish writerSun Jul 28 2024 - 19:34
Evie Wyld: ‘I think the feeling of homesickness is the root of a lot of my writing’Australian-English author on her new novel, good bookshops, and keeping quietSat Jul 27 2024 - 05:00
Ferdia Lennon wins Waterstones prizeBooks newsletter: a wrap of the latest news and a preview of Saturday’s pagesThu Jul 25 2024 - 20:00
Forest Fest 2024 review: Golden oldies shine, Shane MacGowan’s spirit inspiresDexys deliver another outstanding performance, and everyone loves The Human League’s actionMon Jul 22 2024 - 16:04
‘Every great man has a woman behind him rolling her eyes’The author on Nero’s mother, Queen Elizabeth’s death and how to find errors in your own writingSat Jul 20 2024 - 05:00
Vona Groake and Martina Evans honouredBooks newsletter: a wrap of the latest news and Saturday’s pages previewedFri Jul 19 2024 - 09:25
Karin Slaughter: ‘I want to show how one act of violence can have a ripple effect that changes the lives of everyone’‘Atlanta is an enormously diverse city, and Georgia has a lot of small towns and beautiful mountains. It’s perfect for murder’Sat Jul 13 2024 - 05:00