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Book Review – A Quiet Tide by Marianne Lee
The fisherman sidled up to her on the quay. ‘You’re Miss Hutchins, the plant lady from Ballylickey.’ A Quiet Tide, the debut novel by Marianne Lee, takes us back in time to the early 1800s, immersing us in an intimate and compelling fictionalised account of the life of Ellen Hutchins, Ireland’s first female botanist. After…
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Interview – Burning Books Podcast by Books Ireland
Books Ireland is our national hub for all things literature, covering the literary scene from pretty much every angle possible: news, interviews, features, reviews, Irish book charts, events listings, First Flash (a roundup of books published in the current month) and, most recently, a series entitled Backlist Beauties, giving books a well deserved return to…
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Interview – Tolka Journal
A journal of formally promiscuous non-fiction. There is a new literary journal on the scene in Ireland and, since the launch of its inaugural issue at the end of May, the internet has been buzzing. Tolka is a new biannual literary journal, seeking to give a platform without parameters to non-fiction writing. The founding editors…
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Book Review – Pure Gold by John Patrick McHugh
That summer we lit fires. Terry and I. (Bonfire) Although already a seasoned writer of short stories featured in literary journals and magazines, Pure Gold is John Patrick McHugh’s first published collection. The stories are all set on an imagined island off the west coast of Ireland. Referred to as ‘the Island’ throughout, this already…
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Interview – Here & Now, International Literature Festival Dublin 2021
One of Ireland’s most important literary events is now well under way, and this year’s programme clearly has people very excited. The festival got off to a cracking start, with Valeria Luiselli confirmed as this year’s recipient of the prestigious Dublin Literary Award, the world’s most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction…
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Interview – Vibes & Scribes, Raring to Reopen
If there is a business that knows how to keep our heads, hearts and hands happy, it’s the very vibrant Vibes & Scribes in Cork City. The business started as a small bookshop, founded by Joan Lucey, then diversified into arts and crafts, before expanding further into fabric, wool, yarn, haberdashery and upholstery supplies. This…
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Bookstores Ireland, Raring to Reopen
In recent weeks, the call for bookstores in Ireland to be classed as essential, and allowed to reopen as soon as possible, had been growing. Then came the somewhat unexpected, but very welcome, announcement that bookstores (and other ‘non-essential retail’) would be allowed to reopen by mid May. There were many valid reasons backing the…
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Book Review – A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa
‘This is a female text.’ A Ghost in the Throat, by Doireann Ní Ghríofa, is a work of profound beauty, and unlike anything I have ever read before. The book is billed as a blend of ‘essay and auto-fiction’; drawing from the author’s own story, but not bound by it. However, eschewing neat categorisation under…
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Too Many Books, Too Little Time
I started this blog largely as a space to write about one of my main passions: books. However, although they are one of the main things that bring me joy, I decided against categorising this blog as a book blog; I wanted to leave myself the space and flexibility to post about the many things…
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Book Review – Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
When we were new, Rosa and I were mid-store, on the magazines table side, and could see through more than half of the window. Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest novel, Klara and the Sun, offers up its first delight before we even open the book. A subtle detail in the cover design is a nod to all…
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The Resting Willow 