Sarah Moss
A collection of articles by Sarah Moss
Sarah Moss’s last Irish Times column: ‘Being hated on the internet has begun to tint my life’
I glanced into a dark mirror world in which people (mostly men) wrote that I am vile and stupid and should kill myself
University is a chance to remake yourself. No one knows if you were shy at school
It can seem that everyone else is easily making friends and having fun in the early days. Some of them are pretending
The best new books to look out for in autumn 2026
Novels by Sebastian Barry, Louise Kennedy, Barbara Kingsolver and Marlon James; Nikita Hand tells her story, Vincent Browne’s Haughey biography – and much more
August is the strangest month, the ‘Sunday of the year’
Sometimes I want August to be over. It begins to feel like a waiting time, too much anticipation and not enough result
Big brother can be protective. As a driver and cyclist, I like cameras
I’m not in favour of state surveillance, but more cameras on our roads would save lives
I used to feel obliged to finish every book I started reading. Now I read more playfully
I am not advocating giving up as a general principle, in relation to books or anything else
Teenage dieting made me an expert in mental arithmetic
Although I learned metric in school in 1980s Britain, the architecture of shame and ambition around body weight was expressed in stone
Inherited recipes for disaster
Long-forgotten ingredients, measures and timing make for impossible cooking
My son is moving abroad and wanted me to share my recipes. I couldn’t oblige
He asked me to write recipes for some of the food I’ve made all his life. I couldn’t do it
Sarah Moss on audiobooks: I’m happy for readers and listeners to meet my writing in whatever form suits
Some writers are wary of translations and adaptations - I’m just curious
Little House on the Prairie makes for uneasy reading as an adult
These books are politically wrong, but they’re also well written
‘You just nearly killed me and we’re both lucky I’m wearing a helmet,’ I told the SUV driver
There is nothing more I can do to ‘be seen’, and nothing I can do about drivers who don’t look
Why do we fall in love rather than climb, jump or dive?
Everything from cancer to hobbies is now described as ‘your journey’, but I prefer words that don’t make false promises
Novelist Niamh Campbell: ‘The Dublin of 2015 was so full of optimism. Bit by bit it got harder to stay’
The award-winning author – whose new novel Make Strange is out now – on motherhood, publishing and making a living from fiction
Women are now being commanded to ‘lift heavy’ in the gym by algorithms
Nothing about floor-shaking music, other people’s sweat and alarming metal contraptions tempts me
I don’t like alcohol. People think I’m a recovering alcoholic and that’s fine by me
I’m not insulted and if it makes others more comfortable to think that’s why I’m not drinking, it’s fine by me
Some writers refuse to be translated into the languages of states they disdain. Not me
It’s not clear to me on what moral basis I would refuse publication in Putin’s Russia while signing gratefully for Trump’s America
One phrase has always annoyed me: ‘Remember there’s always someone worse off than you’
Am I supposed to take comfort or pleasure in the greater hardship of others? Or is it that there’s a suffering competition?
Some students believe they can be writers without reading. This raises many questions
Wanting to write without wanting to read is, at best, trying to skip the first stage of an artistic apprenticeship
I was a teenage activist, often skiving school for public demonstrations
When you take to the streets in protest, you do so in a position of radical vulnerability. Think of the lone figure before the tanks in Tiananmen Square
How different would Ireland be if grown women ‘close to tears’ could bring the country to a standstill?
How different would Ireland have been this last century if the tears of women were a national emergency?
Contrary to popular belief, loving relationships and talking about feelings are not new phenomena
‘We didn’t talk about these things in my day’ seems to cover whatever range is convenient, and it never holds up
I have many beloved friends, but I’ve never been part of a gang
Friends who can look thoughtfully on conflict and sadness and trouble and still find charity and curiosity are precious
My ears prick up when someone says ‘to tell you the truth’
I like the way replacing but with and invites me to think. It’s an invitation, not a command
My fear rose up and my trust faltered on the mountain
It’s not a bad lesson at any age, to know how to take our pleasures at a lower altitude
Fighting over the bill in Ireland: I’ve seen people elbowing friends and throwing cash
The Irish arrangement affirms bonds through generosity and obligation
Were many people always thirsty in the millenniums before water bottles?
I rarely carry water and my bodily systems seem to run just fine
The desire for good food and pretty clothes was there at the beginning of humanity
The pleasure of thinking about prehistoric people was never that of laying claim to land or heritage but of familiarity and strangeness
Sometimes we should be unreasonable – it allows in sorrow, hope and joy
The word ‘reason’, like ‘natural’ and ‘common sense’, often alerts us to a hidden agenda
Nervously tracking my son’s flight I realise the freedom in embracing not knowing
In most situations, data promotes safety only when someone knows what to do about it
Standing in the shampoo aisle I wondered, which one just makes your hair clean?
Choosing from a menu of deficits for your hair, skin and body is not freedom
Sometimes a liar needs more trust, not more humiliation
The adults in my life had cause to doubt my word, because I did a lot of imagining and I wasn’t always sure what I’d made up
The helmets and hi-vis for cyclists are symptoms of the Irish problem, not the solution
You’ll see very few helmets on cyclists in the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium, certainly no laws mandating their use
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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