The Guide: Kevin Hart, Twenty One Pilots, Cork Fringe Festival and other events to see, shows to book and ones to catch before they end
May 3rd-9th: The best movies, music, art and more coming your way this week
John Boyne
John Boyne on Fair Play by Louise Hegarty: A witty debut that celebrates the golden age of crime novels
It takes skill, and even a sense of anarchy, to produce a novel as funny and baffling as this
Flesh by David Szalay: Compulsively readable with more twists than the road to west Cork
John Boyne hails the Hungarian-English author’s best novel yet
Dublin Literary Award 2025: Seven Irish authors on longlist for €100,000 prize
Irish authors Paul Lynch, Colin Barrett, John Boyne, Sinéad Gleeson and Nuala O’Connor also among 71 nominees for €100,000 fiction prize
Read this and weep: Books that made writers cry
John Boyne, Edel Coffey, Ferdia Lennon, Sarah Gilmartin and a dozen other authors and critics on books that had a profound emotional effect on them
Fiction to look out for in 2025: From Eimear McBride to Ben Okri
Emma Donoghue, Joseph O’Connor and Colum McCann are just some of the big names with new books coming out in 2025. Here’s our pick of fiction for the year ahead
‘One Christmas Day my brother set me on fire’: seven writers spill their most bizarre Yuletide yarns
John Boyne, Ann Ingle, Michael Harding, Caitríona Ní Mhurchú and others on testing a mother’s limits, a marriage-threatening event, the Santa conspiracy and a misplaced bird
‘Act disgracefully, if necessary’: Advice for all ages, from Siobhán McSweeney, John Boyne, Tony Cantwell and more
People aged from their 20s to their 90s share life lessons for their younger selves
The Irish Times best books of 2024: Anne Enright, John Boyne, Joseph O’Connor, Mia Levitin and more reveal their favourites
Books by Ferdia Lennon, Miranda July, Donal Ryan, Mary Costello, Alan Hollinghurst, Christine Dwyer Hickey and Sally Rooney feature prominently in this trawl of the year’s best titles
Fire by John Boyne: Monstrous surgeon at dark heart of this memorable novel will invade your dreams
The third novel of a cycle of four with abuse as their central theme makes for a powerful read
John Boyne: ‘I’ve reviewed books by friends and occasionally by antagonists but there’s only one I regret’
Author on latest book in his four-part cycle about abuse and inviting JK Rowling to his dream dinner party
John Boyne: ‘I know now I’ll never be a dad but I’ve perfected the role of uncle. Here’s my advice’
At 53, I know I will never experience fatherhood, but I’ve been a proud uncle for three decades
The Echoes by Evie Wyld review: Lives in limbo
A ghost is one of the narrators in this engaging novel set between England and Australia
Anyone’s Ghost: Powerful debut about lifelong love for an unattainable boy
August Thompson’s novel revolving around unrequited love is full of loneliness as it sensitively tracks a friendship across a decade
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
Family NoticesOpens in new window
Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices