Sue Leonard

Interviewed by Sue Leonard. 1,300 words.                 ‘It’s a universal fact that women’s lives conformed to other people’s needs, while the lives of men ploughed straight through them, like a motorway tunnel.’ This sentence, appearing in […]

Since Liz Nugent burst onto the literary scene in 2014 with Unravelling Oliver, she’s been famous for her explosive first lines. And the opening of her sixth novel is no exception. The preface of The Truth […]

I’m talking to Colm Tóibín in his office at New York’s Columbia University. The Enniscorthy native  says that it’s quiet, because people don’t teach on a Friday. The author of 11 novels loves his day job; […]

I first met Heather Clark at the West Cork Literary Festival back in July, and interviewed her in Bantry library. She was so engaging – so utterly fascinating and intelligent, that I was keen to catch […]

During World War Two, Fergus Kennedy’s father, Don, was a Prisoner in a Japanese camp in Thailand. A slave labourer working on the River Kwai railway, more commonly known as the death railway, he was extremely […]

Back in 2020, anxious to escape from post Brexit Britain, Sarah Moss left Coventry, where she was teaching, and brought her family to live in Dun Laoghaire. The novelist had accepted a post to teach Creative […]

I meet Eoin McNamee at the Oscar Wilde Centre in Trinity College, where he is Director of the Creative Writing programmes. We’re discussing The Bureau, McNamee’s latest book, and his most powerful yet. It’s also his […]

In early 2021, at the end of Ireland’s final Covid lockdown, Lisa Harding was feeling blue. She’d been looking forward to the new year, with the release of her second novel, Bright Burning Things, and indeed, […]

It’s 35 years since Patricia Scanlan’s debut, City Girl hit the shelves, introducing the lives of Dublin friends Maggie, Caroline and Devlin. And to celebrate, the author has written a new book which brings the lives […]

Photo shows Lisa Harding, Sue Leonard and Fiona Scarlett at Bantry House, May 2021.

I meet Roisín in a Dublin Hotel – which is fitting, since her debut is partially set in such a place. But whereas we’re here for a chat over tea, her protagonist, Ciara, is confined to […]

I was keen to talk to Michelle McDonagh about her third novel – and not just because it’s a great read. I’ve been thinking about her recently, because her first crime drama, published in 2020, centred […]