Sue Leonard

When the Australian author, Hannah Kent gave a talk recently, she was reprimanded by a member of the audience. Her crime? She had referred to ‘the good people’, a term commonly used for fairies, in the […]

Loving languages, Lisa aimed to join the European parliament, but at university she got wrapped up in Trinity Players. After a year spent travelling she studied acting, then spent four years in Ireland, appearing in The […]

NEIL JORDAN’s latest novel opens at a carnival. Teenage Andy wanders into a hall of mirrors, and finds himself stuck inside the glass — watching his reflection walk out to join his parents. And so the fantastical novel […]

The son of writer Lee Dunne, Peter started writing in his teens. And, after penning some terrible novels, he got a publishing deal at 25. “I was thrilled, but it fell apart very quickly, because I […]

Have you ever wondered how ghost-writing works? Do you have a story to tell, but feel that you need some help to write it? Are you a writer who would like to collaborate with someone, and […]

Conor decided to be a writer at 14, when his English teacher, Des Egan, said, ‘Books don’t always have to be written by other people.’ “That really impacted on me,” says Conor.  He wrote poems and […]

WHEN Amor Towles was 25 and living in New York City, he needed to make a living, so he became an investment professional. And he remained one for 21 years. During that time there were several […]

Montpelier Parade. Karl Geary. Harvill Secker Teenager Sonny’s life seems stymied. He has no friends, unless you count the downtrodden Sharon; he’s in trouble at school where he’s a charity case, and his part-time job at […]

Holding. Graham Norton. Hodder and Stoughton.  Early reviews for Graham Norton’s debut have been highly positive. Commenting, on the Late Late Show recently, Norton said that the public’s expectation had been extremely low. Assuming the chat […]

A former failed accountant, record salesman and wood-cutter, George then became an actor. After drama school, he joined the Liverpool Everyman, where he met writers Alan Bleasdale, Willie Russell and Chris Bond. “By the end of […]

Son of a farmer, Ger wasn’t a reader  because on a farm there was always something to be done. “I came to literature as a teenager through the lyrics of Bob Dylan and Tom Waites.” After […]

As a child Alan penned epic adventure and science fiction stories, but he stopped writing for many years. After school, he took a diploma, then he drifted through his twenties. “I spent time in London and […]