Can creative writing be taught? Irish authors give their answersJohn Boyne, Joseph O’Connor, Gavin Corbett, Henrietta McKervey, Mary Morrissy, Paula McGrath, Paul Perry and Máire T Robinson have their say on the MFAMon Apr 18 2016 - 12:26
New Fiction: The Privileged by Emily Hourican reviewThoughtful commercial fiction with a southside Dublin backdrop of drugs, partying and growing upSat Apr 16 2016 - 01:00
Lisa McInerney and Anne Enright on Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlistListowel Writers’ Week shortlists; Limerick chosen for global HQ; ILFD programme; Stinging Fly event; Blackbird in Meath; Cúirt voices; Cork World Book FestMon Apr 11 2016 - 19:15
The Voyage of the Dolphin by Kevin Smith review: iguanas, an Arctic voyage and 1916A seafaring jaunt buoyed with plenty of humour has an unusual take on historySat Apr 9 2016 - 01:00
Shtum by Jem LesterLester’s ‘Shtum’ explores the realities facing parents and their autistic childSat Apr 9 2016 - 00:57
Brian Bilston: the Poet Laureate of Twitter‘He is to poetry what Banksy is to art’. Brian Bilston is bringing poetry to the masses, taking social media by storm with his topical, witty, thoughtful and accessible poemsWed Apr 6 2016 - 11:38
Borris House Festival; Naomi Klein in Dublin; Éigse festival; What is a Republic?Literary listings: New director at Trinity; poetry in Galway; Brendan Kennelly at 80; poets on tour; Paula Meehan at NLITue Apr 5 2016 - 17:33
Anatomy of a Soldier, by Harry Parker review: Objective witnessesAn insider’s story of a devastating modern war told from the perspective of 45 objectsSat Apr 2 2016 - 01:00
Cúirt; Fish Short Story winners; Gavin Corbett at TCD; Cork World Book FestDublin Shakespeare Society; Kevin Curran reading; All-Ireland Poetry Day; Trinity talk on Derry authors; hunger strike talk at UCDThu Mar 31 2016 - 14:36
New fiction: Joanna Walsh’s short story collectionIn ‘Vertigo’, the writer highlights familiar worlds as they are about to fractureSat Mar 26 2016 - 01:00
Graham Norton launches ‘major new career as a novelist’Literary listings: Colum McCann on EFG shortlist; Irish bookshops make their mark; Sara Baume well received in US; The poets’ revolution and moreMon Mar 21 2016 - 15:28
13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad review: weighty mattersThis debut novel is a razor-sharp, mordantly funny look at self-induced starvationSat Mar 19 2016 - 03:00
A Q&A with Lisa McInerney and her editor Mark Richards‘All that was left was to have a leisurely pint with Mark once the business graft was done. We had a very nice lunch too; I appreciate being fed. Start as you mean to go on’Fri Mar 18 2016 - 08:21
Irish neurologist on £30,000 Wellcome Book Prize shortlistMoth art prize; Gutter book launches; Ballymaloe poetry shortlist; poetry at UCC; Banshee II; Franco-Irish Literary Festival; Imram; Gavin Corbett at TrinityMon Mar 14 2016 - 14:40
Children’s Children by Jan Carson review: sharply written and inventiveGenerations hand down the misery in Jan Carson’s surreal debut collectionSat Mar 12 2016 - 01:00
Literary awards’ pros and cons: gold stars and black marksAre literary awards just ‘posh bingo’ or something that writers really care about? How fair are they anyway, and could they actually have a damaging effect?Wed Mar 9 2016 - 12:19
Emma Hannigan wins RoNA; Samuel Beckett festival; Mountains to Sea; Bookseller of YearIreland’s literacy ranking; Bookmarks; Women and the Rising; John Murray’s new Irish debut; and a Northern Ireland women writers anthologyTue Mar 8 2016 - 10:20
Light Box by KJ Orr review: an illuminating debutYou don’t need to be an astronaut to feel out of sorts with the world is the prevailing message of this lovely collection of storiesSat Mar 5 2016 - 01:00
How do Irish literary festivals treat writers?Free speech, yes. Speak for free? No. As British literary festivals come under fire for not paying authors, Sarah Gilmartin finds out the state of play and rates of pay hereWed Mar 2 2016 - 12:28
Bring a Book, Buy A Book; Ennis Book Festival; Mountains to Sea; World Book DayLiterary listings: Sunday Times short story longlist; RONAs shortlist; Rising readings at UCC; Ann O’Loughlin book deal; Waterstones shortlist; Gavin Corbett at TCDMon Feb 29 2016 - 17:10
Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa review: fragmented and fraughtAn on-the-ground reimagining of the protests at the 1999 WTO summit in SeattleSat Feb 27 2016 - 01:00
Scary Old Sex by Arlene Heyman: ageless stories of sex and deathThere are second husbands, second thoughts and second chances in this provocative and moving debut collection from a New York psychiatristSat Feb 20 2016 - 01:00
The Maker of Swans by Paraic O’Donnell review: ambitious and originalA fairytale atmosphere runs through this intriguing Irish debut novel but the endless wordplay is finally wearying, finds Sarah GilmartinSat Feb 13 2016 - 00:45
This Living and Immortal Thing by Austin Duffy review: pensive and starkThis tale of an Irish oncologist in New Yorlk is an honest, no-frills clinical account of illness and deathSat Feb 13 2016 - 00:29
Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett review: a whale of a debutMixing historical detail with humour and an engaging romantic subplot, Barrett has written an unusual and entertaining yarnSat Feb 6 2016 - 00:03
The World Without Us by Mireille Juchau review: Mother earth calls it a dayAn Australian writer’s powerful take on climate change and emotional loss creates a buzzSat Jan 30 2016 - 01:00
Love Me Back, by Merritt Tierce: service with a sabre-tooth smileThis debut novel is a sharply written, brutal depiction of a Dallas waitress’s spiral into a world of misogyny, black-out sex and drug-fuelled bingesSat Jan 23 2016 - 01:00
Review: The Portable Veblen, by Elizabeth McKenzieTalking squirrels, neuroscience and marriage dilemmas from an engaging voiceSat Jan 16 2016 - 01:00
Paulina and Fran, by Rachel B Glaser: a cracking debut novelA razor-sharp tale of female relationships and an astute, witty portrayal of New England art school graduates coming of ageSat Jan 9 2016 - 01:00
Review: The Private Life of Mrs Sharma, by Ratika KapurPrivate lives and public duties in a changing India are explored in this tender, funny novelSat Dec 19 2015 - 01:00
The Devil Is a Black Dog review: dispatches from the dogs of warA Hungarian correspondent blends reportage and fiction in a brutally compelling collection on conflictSat Dec 12 2015 - 01:00
The November Criminals by Sam Munson: Shooting from the hipRighteous teenage angst cuts through the phony adult world of modern AmericaSat Dec 5 2015 - 01:00
The Hidden Legacy Review: making a present of the pastIn this debut novel, gifts from a stranger spark a journey deep into the West CountrySat Nov 28 2015 - 01:00
A Ghost’s Story review: haunted historyThe fictional story of a real-life spook is overshadowed by the tale’s lumbering biography. The result is a novel that lacks spiritSat Nov 21 2015 - 01:00
Playthings by Alex Pheby review: Method in the madnessA fragmented narrative of childhood repressions shows the disturbed mind of a German judgeSat Nov 14 2015 - 02:00
The Book Quiz: Mockingbirds and Spider's WebsTest your literary knowledge and win a €200 hamper of books courtesy of Kenny's BookshopSun Nov 8 2015 - 14:00
The Clasp by Sloane Crosley: Latching on to loveA comedy of manners about modern America steeped in literatureSat Nov 7 2015 - 01:00
Book Review: The Inflatable Woman, by Rachael BallCartoons and courage in a thoughtful, original tale of a patient battling cancerSat Oct 31 2015 - 01:00
In a Dark, Dark Wood, by Ruth WareCompelling tale of a hen party with a murderous twist is let down by its denouementSat Oct 24 2015 - 01:00
Barbara the Slut and Other People, by Lauren Holmes: let’s talk about sexReview: Millenial angst and deadpan humour in a diverting debut collection of storiesSat Oct 17 2015 - 01:00
Ireland’s other Law LibraryThe professions of writer and lawyer share lots of similarities so it is perhaps no surprise that so many Irish lawyers venture into fiction. Sarah Gilmartin hears the evidenceMon Oct 12 2015 - 09:53
Dinosaurs on Other Planets by Danielle McLaughlin: Planet-sized problems of humanityA stirring debut collection on the loneliness of being aliveSat Oct 10 2015 - 01:00
Muse of Yeats festival; Seamus Heaney exhibition; Anakana Schofield shortlistedColm Tóibín at Trinity; literary elite in Ballsbridge; Irish Culture abroad for 2016Thu Oct 8 2015 - 15:42
Review: The Book of Memory by Petina GappahCorrupt Zimbabwe is laid bare in a sensual debut novel set in a prisonSat Oct 3 2015 - 01:00