Novels

EVENTS – AUTUMN 2024

A roundup of upcoming events:

KINSALE, 5th October, 2.45pm: Join me and Sinead Gleeson with Tara Flynn at Words By Water Literary Festival in Kinsale, Co. Cork. More here.

DUBLIN, 10th October, 6pm: I am taking part in the ISLA Festival at the Cervantes Institute in Dublin in an event called Fascinating Lives, with Fernando Beltrán (Spain), and Irene Chikiar Bauer (Argentina). More here.

BRUGES, 24th to 26th October, times tbc: I am taking part in the opening of the Paper Women exhibition in Bruges, Belgium. I will be interviewed by Mieke Dumont ont he 24th, and will do a further two reading events across the weekend. More here.

DUBLIN, 7th November, 6.30pm, National Library Dublin: At the Dublin Book Festival, I am talking with Martina Devlin and author Emily Hourican in an event called Women in History. More here.

BALLINASLOE, 8th November, time tbc: Launch of Ballinasloe Heritage Society inaugural journal, in which I have a piece about Belle Bilton. More to follow!

DONEGAL, 9th November, 1pm: Literary Lunch at Allingham Festival – announcement and readings of flash and poetry comps. I am judging the flash. And launch of novel by Tom Sigafoos. More here.

CERVANTES INSTITUTE EVENT – Seaborne

Round table discussion: “Fascinating lives”

Fotografía: round table discussion, 'Fascinating lives'

JOIN ME AND OTHERS ON the 10th October at the Cervantes Institute in Dublin for this event, Fascinating Lives:

Delve into the life of adventurous and creative minds through the more recent books of three authors from Spain, Argentina and Ireland In a contemporary world where autobiography is very present, we want to explore some recent works that capture the fascination, surprise and everyday life or mysteries of others’ lives. Alongside writers Fernando Beltrán, author of the literary fiction Bacon sin Bacon, Irene Chikiar Bauer, author of the essay Virginia Woolf y Victoria Ocampo: Biografía de un encuentro, and Nuala O’Connor, author of Seaborne, an intimate and thrilling portrait of the life of Irish pirate Anne Bonny, we will delve into these figures and discover the reasons that led their authors to explore those lives, the challenges they faced, the research process, and to what extent fiction and reality intertwine in their books.

Fernando Beltrán is a Spanish poet. He burst onto the literary scene with his poetry collection Aquelarre en Madrid (1982, Adonáis Prize). A versatile namer of emotions, he has published over twenty poetry collections, and his work, widely translated, also includes editions in dialogue with visual artists and translations of Stevenson and Leonard Cohen. He is an associate professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts at UPV (Valencia, Spain). His latest book is Bacon sin Bacon.

Irene Chikiar Bauer is a journalist, teacher, and writer. She has published literary essays and is the author of the books Eduarda MansillaEntre-ellos, una escritora argentina del siglo XIXVirginia Woolf, la vida por escritoVictoria Ocampo. El ensayo personal (Mardulce, 2021) and Virginia Woolf y Victoria Ocampo. Biografía de un encuentro. She is also a playwriter. As a journalist, she has worked on radio, television and print media, and has conducted interview series with writers for several media.

Nuala O’Connor lives in Galway, Ireland. Her sixth novel Seaborne, about Irish-born pirate Anne Bonny, was published in April 2024 by New Island. Her novel Nora (New Island), about Nora Barnacle and James Joyce, was a Top 10 historical novel in the New York Times. She won Irish Short Story of the Year at the 2022 Irish Book Awards and is editor at flash e-journal Splonk. www.nualaoconnor.com

Tara Plunkett is a Hispanist at University College Dublin. Her research focuses on Spanish and Latin American artists’ use of Surrealist in works of self-fashioning, how avant-garde cultural production is canonised, classified and curated, and the presentations of masculinities, femininities and identities in Almodóvar’s films. She is co-editor of Preservation, Radicalism and the Avant-Garde Canon (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), and curator of the exhibition Out of the Ordinary: Contemporary Visions of the Avant-Garde.

BRENDAN O’CONNOR SHOW & SUNDAY TIMES – SEABORNE

The link to my interview with Brendan O’Connor on RTÉ Radio 1 is HERE. We talked autism, sobriety, anxiety meds, secrets, Anne Bonny, and more. He was very nice and friendly and I enjoyed the chat.

More chat from me in the Sunday Times yesterday – this time an essay I wrote about autism, tiny fictions, stims and more. See below.

PRESS – SEABORNE

We’ve had lots of great press for SEABORNE thanks to Peter O’Connell.

I was here in the Irish Daily Mail talking about my love of mavericks, like Anne Bonny.

There was last Saturday’s Irish Times Magazine interview with Niamh Donnelly.

And last week’s wonderful Sunday Independent review by Lorraine Courtney:

And today a fab review in the Irish Times by Anna Carey:

I was on Arena during the week on RTÉ Radio 1 and will be on Brendan O’Connor’s radio show tomorrow Sunday around midday.

GALWAY BOOK LAUNCH & ARENA INTERVIEW

We launched Seaborne in style at the Druid Mick Lally Theatre in Galway on Tuesday. Huge thanks to launcher Edel Coffey, my gorgeous editor Aoife K. Walsh, Marketing & Publicity Manager at New Island Des Doyle, all who came out to set sail with Anne, and to Manuela Moser and all the Cúirt team.

And I was on RTÉ Radio’s ARENA last night with lovely Seán Rocks. You can listen back here.

SEABORNE PUBLICATION DAY

It’s publication day for SEABORNE and I am giddy 🙂 The novel is available in all Irish book shops and from my publisher New Island. Kennys offer free national postage, buy here.

If you want to buy in the UK, go to Waterstone’s, or Blackwell’s, or, if you prefer, Amazon.

I got some sweet cards from my family, including this Paper Bear pirate boat from my lovely cousin. And my husband, Finbar, also gave me an enormous whale plate, which I adore.

I’m doing a book / tote / other goodies giveaway over on my Instagram so do join me there today.

KENNYS SIGNING – SEABORNE

I signed 100 copies of Seaborne at Kennys Book Shop yesterday afternoon; and the visitors’ book! I also did my first ever reading from the novel, filmed by Dean Kelly for the Kennys YouTube channel (will link when it’s ready). It’s always a pleasure to visit this historical, storied place, teetering with books and stunning art. Thanks to the whole crew for the warm welcome 💚

Photos: Dean Kelly & Finbar McLoughlin