In The Irish Times tomorrow, Dave Tynan tells Nadine O’Regan about his debut story collection. RF Kuang discusses her follow-up to bestseller Yellowface with Niamh Donnelly. And there is a Q&A with Icelandic thriller writer Ragnar Jónasson. Cóilín Parsons, a professor of English and director of Global Irish Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC and author of Transnationalism in Irish Literature and Culture, explores the trend in Irish fiction for works set outside Ireland.
Reviews are Daniel Mulhall on These Divided Isles: Britain and Ireland, Past and Future by Philip Stephens; Mark Hennessy on The Deployment of Art: The Imperial War Museum’s Artistic Records Committee, 1968–1982; Mei Chin on The Lines We Draw by Tim Franks; Declan Ryan on the best new poetry; Helen Cullen on The Joyce of Everyday Life by Vicki Mahaffey; Evelyn Conlon on Continuity and Change: Postwar Migration Between Ireland and Australia 1945-2024 by Fidelma McCorry and Patricia M O’Connor; Ronan McGreevy on Burying the Enemy: The Story of Those who Cared for the Dead in Two World Wars by Tim Grady; Philippa Conlon on TonyInterruptor by Nicola Barker; Donald Clarke on Everything and the Kitchen Sink by Simon Matthews; Lucy Sweeney Byrne on Who Will Remain by Kasim Ali; Ruby Eastwood on Remember When by Fiona Philipps; Paul Clements on local history books; and Chris Doyle on Landscapes of Kingship in Early Medieval Ireland AD 400-1150 by Patrick Gleeson.
Tomorrow’s Irish Times Eason offer is The Seventh Body by Catherine Kirwan, just €5.99, a €6 saving.
Moira Buffini’s “captivating” dystopian debut novel, Songlight (Faber), has been named as the winner of the YA Book Prize 2025 at Edinburgh International Book Festival.
The first volume in The Torch Trilogy, Songlight was inspired by The Handmaid’s Tale, The Hunger Games, and John Wyndham’s 1955 cold war novel The Chrysalids. It imagines a society thousands of years in the future in which a form of telepathy called Songlight has emerged. In many parts of Buffini’s imagined world, Songlight is revered, but in a closed-off enclave called Brightland, it is seen as a curse, and those gifted with it are hunted down and persecuted.
Rachel Fox, children and schools programme director at the festival, a partner on the prize, said Songlight “pulls you into its brilliantly imagined world from the very first page and refuses to let go”.
Buffini is a second-generation Irish dramatist who has written films and plays including Bafta-nominated The Dig and Olivier Award winner Handbagged, as well as being co-creator and showrunner of the TV series Harlots.
Her mother, Susan Buffini, née Clay, was a nurse from Donegal; her father, John Buffini, a quantity surveyor from Dublin, who died in a car crash when she was four.
“I always felt really Irish in England and then as soon as I came to Ireland, I felt really English,” she told The Irish Times last year. “I think I’ve had this love affair with Ireland, and for a long time, I just thought, no, it’s unrequited, Ireland doesn’t love me. Ireland thinks I’m English. And it wasn’t helped, during the worst years of the Troubles, by my cousins sort of having a go at us about how ignorant we were about Irish politics.”
She describes a sudden realisation “that all this was happening, and we were getting taught in school about the Tudors and about Empire. […] So, my cousins educated me about Irish history.”
Kerry Writers’ Museum presents the seventh annual Listowel International Storytelling Festival from September 18th to 21st.
Inspired by the Irish Rambling House tradition—where neighbours gathered to share stories, songs, and laughter—the festival blends local heritage with global voices, welcoming master storytellers, poets, musicians, and artists from Ireland, Spain, Morocco, the UK and the US.
This year’s programme includes an Opening Night Tribute to Sonny Egan – honouring the beloved Kerry storyteller; International Storytelling Showcases from Morocco with Omar Belaarej, Spanish and Gaelic legends with Inés Álvarez Villa, and voices from Ireland, Scotland, and beyond.
Many events are free or low-cost, making the festival accessible to all. Weekend tickets (€120) offer exceptional value for those who want to enjoy the full festival experience over four days.
Cara Trant, festival director, said: “The Listowel International Storytelling Festival is more than a series of performances – it’s a living celebration of human connection. We honour Kerry’s traditions while opening our stage to voices from around the world. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a longtime friend, you’ll find stories here that will stay with you long after you leave.”
The full festival programme is now available in Kerry Writers’ Museum and online at kerrywritersmuseum.com
*
Belfast International Arts Festival returns for its 63rd edition welcoming the very best international and homegrown authors, poets and writers to the city from 14 October – 9 November.
The hugely diverse and esteemed line up of award-winning writers include Booker Prize-winner John Banville at The MAC on November 8th as he discusses his new novel, Venetian Vespers with critic Alex Clark.
Geoff Dyer will discuss his acclaimed new memoir, Homework, alongside Joe Dunthorne and critic John Self at The Crescent on October 14th.
Renowned artist Colin Davidson and broadcaster Mark Carruthers join Marie-Louise Kerr at the Ulster University on November 5th to discuss Twelve Paintings, their new book structured around a series of conversations inspired by 12 of Davidson’s key works. Elaine Feeney, the bestselling author of the Booker-longlisted How to Build a Boat, explores her new book, Let Me Go Mad In My Own Way, at The MAC on November 8th. No Alibis Bookshop welcomes award-winning poet and memoirist Seán Hewitt on November 7th for a conversation with John Self about his powerful new coming-of-age novel Open, Heaven.
For more information, to view the full programme, or to book tickets, visit belfastinternationalartsfestival.com.
The shortlists for the Irish-Language Book of the Year Publishing Awards have been announced by An tOireachtas, in conjunction with Foras na Gaeilge. The awards consist of three categories - Gradam Uí Shúilleabháin (Book of the Year for Adults), Gradam Réics Carló (Book of the Year for Children) and Gradam de Bhaldraithe (Book of the Year for publications translated into Irish).
Nineteen books have been shortlisted – six in the category, ‘Irish-Language Book of the Year for Adults’; seven in the Children’s Book category and six in the category for translated works.
The 10 publishing houses shortlisted are An tSnáthaid Mhór; Barzaz; Cló Iar-Chonnacht; Cork University Press; Dalen Éireann; Éabhlóid; Futa Fata; Leabhar Breac; LeabhairCOMHAR and Picnic Press.
“I warmly congratulate the publishing houses, writers, illustrators and translators on this year’s shortlist”, said Máirín Nic Dhonnchadha, CEO of An tOireachtas. “This recognition is a testament to the vital role publishers play in nurturing new Irish writing and encouraging young authors in all genres. Their commitment ensures that readers of all ages and backgrounds have access to high-quality books that enrich the Irish language reading community. Through powerful storytelling, beautiful illustration and excellent translation, they are safeguarding the vibrancy of our language for future generations, and we are immensely proud to celebrate their achievements today.”
The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on September 30th, in the National Irish Language Theatre, An Taibhdhearc, in Galway. A collective prize fund of €17,000 will be awarded. Details of all publications are available at antoireachtas.ie
The programme for Culture Night Dublin 2025 has officially been announced, with the annual cultural nocturnal extravaganza set to take place on Friday, September 19th. Over 300 events will be held across the capital, ranging from theatre, music and dance, to podcasting, painting, and poetry.
Among the literary highlights, the Irish Writers Centre will host live readings featuring various writers, including short story author Mary O’Donnell and spoken word artist Vagabond Queen. Laureate na nÓg Patricia Forde will bring the finest Irish children’s literature to life with a live reading at the Dubray bookshop window, and Ranelagh Arts will host Rosita Sweetman and guests for a special evening of readings from her memoir, “Girl with a Fork in a World of Soup.” The O’Brien Press is inviting unpublished authors, with a focus on children and young adult fiction, to pitch their work in a ten-minute one-to-one Zoom meeting with members of The O’Brien Press team. The National Library of Ireland’s new podcaster in residence, Zoë Comyns, will host a “pop-up collection” podcast inspired by the rich collection of books, newspapers, and journals in the collection. Elsewhere, The Kerlin Gallery will transform into a pop-up bookshop, showcasing monographs, catalogues, and books from their collection of gallery artists, and Pearse Street Library will host a Gala Jane Austen Quiz. Don’t miss the tour of Marsh’s Library and its quirky famous cages, used by the literary greats from Jonathan Swift, to Bram Stoker. As always, all Culture Night events are free and open to all. See CultureNight.ie
Yesterday, the Arts Council launched Read Mór 2025, our annual book-gifting initiative, as part of Culture Night. This year sees an exciting new partnership with Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, bringing the joy of reading to young people across Ireland who may not otherwise have access to Culture Night events.
Now in its fourth year, Read Mór gifts 30 books by Irish and Irish-based authors — from Emma Donoghue to Oein DeBhairduin — directly into the hands of young people through Jigsaw centres nationwide. The initiative not only celebrates Irish literature, but also highlights the proven benefits of reading for mental health, connection, and creativity.
Edel Connolly, a Youth Advocate with Jigsaw, said: “It’s fantastic having young people involved with Read Mór this year. As a young person, I think it’s so important to encourage other young people to pick up reading as a hobby for their mental wellbeing. Reading is such an amazing way to get lost in a fictional world where your worries don’t exist and to inspire young people to express themselves in a healthy and creative way.”
*
The west Cork poet Derry O’Sullivan has died in his adopted city of Paris, aged 81.
O’Sullivan published three poetry collections in Irish - Cá bhfuil do Iúdás? (1987); Cá bhfuil Tiarna Talún l’Univers? (1994); and An bhfuil cead agam dul amach, más é do thoil é? (2009), as well as An Lá go dTáinig Siad (2005), a long poem about the Nazi takeover of Paris.
En Mal de Fleurs, a collection of his poems in French, was published in 1988.
An English translation by Kaarina Hollo of his poem Marbhghin 1943: Glaoch ar Liombó (Stillborn 1943: Calling Limbo) won the 2012 Times Stephen Spender Prize for poetry translation.
After graduating from University College Cork, he became a Capuchin monk and was ordained but left the priesthood a year later. He taught English at the Sorbonne, the Institut Catholique de Paris and the Institut Supérieur d’Electronique de Paris. He was predeceased by his wife Jean and survived by his son Dekin and daughters Isolde and Derval and his sister Maeve.
*
*
In March, writer and performer Peter Murphy (aka Cursed Murphy), composer/violinist Colm Mac Con Iomaire, and Cillian and Lorcan Byrne from Basciville, convened in the National Opera House for five days to record an album entitled Ghost Voltage.
Weaving elements of memoir, folklore, sci-fi and the supernatural, the text of the piece is a prose-poem requiem for the departed, divided into six parts, illustrated by artist Mirona Mara, documented in film and photographs by Caolan Barron.
Ghost Voltage will be released this autumn; Colm and Basciville’s musical score draws on traditional, classical, folk and electronic music to stunning effect.
This Wexford Arts Centre performances on Saturday, October 4th are a rare chance to see the album performed live in tandem with Mirona’s images.
