In The Irish Times tomorrow, acclaimed short story writer Wendy Erskine tells me about her debut novel, The Benefactors. Nadine O’Regan explores the rise of romantasy, escapist books for troubled times. I take a tongue-in-cheek look at Bloomsday and we have a Q&A with Tim MacGabhann about The Black Pool, his memoir of addiction and recovery.
Reviews are Oliver Farry on Catastrophe: Nakba II by Fintan Drury, Genocide in Gaza: Israel’s Long War on Palestine by Avi Shlaim and Gilbert Achcar’s The Gaza Catastrophe; Andrew Lynch on Serve: My Lost Years at the Heart of Ireland’s Opus Dei by Anne Marie Allen; Mei Chin on Daria LaVelle’s Aftertaste; Ruby Eastwood on Look at You by Amanda Smyth; Elizabeth Mannion and Brian Cliff on the best new crime fiction; Naoise Dolan on Saraswati by Gurnaik Johal; Jessica Traynor on Daughters of the Bamboo Grove by Barbara Demick; NJ McGarrigle on Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman; Paul Clements on A Quiet Evening: The Travels of Norman Lewis edited by John Hatt; John Boyne on Days of Light by Megan Hunter; Pat Carty on Paradise House by Paul Perry; Claire Adam on Sakina’s Kiss by Vivek Shanbhag; Adrienne Murphy on The Black Pool by Tim MacGabhann; Siobhan Long on Heading to the Fleadh Festival, cultural revival and Irish traditional music 1951-1969 by Méabh Ní Fhuartháin; and Kevin Power on Thirst Trap by Gráinne O’Hare.
This weekend’s Irish Times Eason offer is Our London Lives by Christine Dwyer Hickey, just €5,99, a €6 saving.
The 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been won by Yael van der Wouden for The Safekeep: an unsettling, tightly-plotted debut novel which explores repressed desire and historical amnesia set against the backdrop of the Netherlands postwar.
The Safekeep is at once a highly-charged, claustrophobic drama played out between two deeply flawed characters, and a bold, insightful exploration of the emotional aftermath of trauma and complicity.
The 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction was awarded to Dr Rachel Clarke for The Story of a Heart: a clear-sighted, vital exploration into the human experience behind organ donation. Interweaving two intimate family stories, we meet nine-year old Kiera who dies following a catastrophic car accident and Max, also nine years old, who faces imminent heart failure due to a viral infection.
Through these individual tragedies, Clarke depicts the expertise and dedication of the countless medical staff who look after Keira in her final hours and those who offer Max a new life.
The winners each receive £30,000.
Kit de Waal, chair of judges for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction, said: “The Safekeep is that rare thing: a masterful blend of history, suspense and historical authenticity. Every word is perfectly placed, page after page revealing an aspect of war and the Holocaust that has been, until now, mostly unexplored in fiction.
“It is also a love story with beautifully rendered intimate scenes written with delicacy and compelling eroticism. This astonishing debut is a classic in the making, a story to be loved and appreciated for generations to come. Books like this don’t come along every day.”
De Waal’s fellow judges were Diana Evans; Bryony Gordon; Deborah Joseph; and Amelia Warner.
Kavita Puri, chair of judges for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, said: “The Story of a Heart left a deep and long-lasting impression on us. Clarke’s writing is authoritative, beautiful and compassionate. The research is meticulous, and the storytelling is expertly crafted. She holds this precious story with great care and tells it with dignity, interweaving the history of transplant surgery seamlessly.
“This is a book where humanity shines through on every page, from the selfl ess act of the parents who gift their daughter’s heart in the depths of despair, to the dedication of the NHS workers. It is unforgettable, and will be read for many years to come.”
Puri was joined on the judging panel by Dr Leah Broad; Elizabeth Buchan; Dr Elizabeth-Jane Burnett; and Emma Gannon.
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The Irish Writers Centre has just announced the 34 talented writers selected for its prestigious National Mentoring Programme 2025, chosen from over 350 applications received from across the country.
This initiative, now in its eighth year, pairs emerging and mid-career writers with acclaimed mentors for sustained, one-on-one support — fostering the next generation of Irish literary voices. Past mentees have included Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Victoria Kennefick, and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe.
The full list of selected writers is available here.
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Sarai Kirshner has won the 2025 Fitzcarraldo Editions/Mahler & LeWitt Studios Essay Prizewith her proposal for On Refusal. Taking its roots in the space between two walls – The Wailing Wall, a space of prayer and ritual where conscripted teenagers take their oath to the Israeli Defence Force, and the West Bank barrier which dispossesses and divides Palestinian communities – Sarai Kirshner’s On Refusal traces acts of refusal to serve in the Israeli military.
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This year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival will welcome nearly 700 authors from 35 countries to around 700 events exploring a diverse range of topics from August 9th to 24th. The line-up includes 23 Irish or Irish-based writers, including Maggie O’Farrell, Joseph O’Connor, Caroline O’Donoghue, Anthony Delaney, Catherine Prasifka, Clara Kumagai, Eimear McBride, Elaine Feeney, Elaine Garvey, John Patrick McHugh, Katie Goh, Mary Costello, Michael Hutchinson, Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin, Nicola Kelly, Roisín O’Donnell, Rose Keating, Sarah Moss, Seán Hewitt, Stuart Neville, Suzanne O’Sullivan, Wendy Erskine and Will Sliney.
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The Gate Theatre has announced the cast for its new production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman, directed by Olivier Award winner Lyndsey Turner. The production will open at the Gate Theatre on July 9th, with previews from July 4th.
Joining the previously announced Fra Fee as Katurian, will be Ryan Dylan as Michal, Aidan McArdle as Tupolski, Julian Moore-Cook as Ariel, Donncha O’Dea as Father, and Jade O’Connor as Mother.
A totalitarian regime. A missing child. A killer on the loose. A writer is arrested when a series of murders, bearing a chilling resemblance to his own stories, come to light. As two detectives chase a confession, they discover a truth much stranger than fiction.
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The Bloomsday Festival 2025 welcomes an evocative musical collaboration between Instituto Cervantes Dublin and the James Joyce Centre with “Words in Music: Los Versos Sáficos,” a special concert event taking place on Monday, June 16th at 7pm at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM). The event brings together leading Spanish-Danish artist Christina Rosenvinge, guitarist Amaia Miranda, and celebrated Irish traditional singer Cathy Jordan.
There is plenty of Irish interest in this year’s YA Book Prize shortlist.
Sarah Crossan, who won in 2016 with One, is nominated again with Where the Heart Should Be, a verse novel that explores love and family during the Famine. Fellow former winner Adiba Jaigirdar is also shortlisted for romcom Four Eids and a Funeral, co-written with Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. In it, former friends turned enemies Said and Tiwa are reunited by a funeral and a fire at their home town’s Islamic Centre. Jaigirdar received the YA Book Prize for Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating in 2022.
Also shortlisted is Songlight, the first in a trilogy by second-generation Irish screenwriter Moira Buffini set in a post-apocalyptic future and centres around Lark and Nightingale, who have developed the ability to connect telepathically with others and are therefore being hunted by the ruling regime.
