W&N has pre-empted Everything Not Saved and a second novel by Irish Book Award-winning author Sarah Maria Griffin in a six-figure deal.
Pitched as Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow meets The Rachel Incident and Lincoln in the Bardo, Everything Not Saved centres around Orla Birch, an Irish academic in her late 30s with a specialism in video games, living in San Francisco and facing financial ruin, who is asked to track down the only surviving copy of a lost game.
Publisher Alexa von Hirschberg said: “Wildly original and beautifully written, this absorbing, clever and wise novel about grief, desire and fandom hooked me in and kept me glued to the page – Sarah Maria Griffin is an exceptional storyteller and Everything Not Saved will be a major lead title for W&N in 2028.”
Griffin said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have found a home with W&N, and I am bowled over by their true enthusiasm and plans for Everything Not Saved. Alexa came to this project with a real understanding of the kind of story I am trying to tell about art and legacy and power, and has very much met me in the work. This novel was written with support from the Arts Council of Ireland, during my pregnancy and the hazy newborn season of my daughter’s life. Without the bursary awarded to me in 2024, I wouldn’t have had the means or frankly, the courage to continue working on this story at such an intense and vulnerable time.
“I wrote it during a period of confinement in a hospital bed, in waiting rooms, and eventually with my daughter asleep in my arms, late at night. Bryony Woods championed this novel from our first conversation about it, and I feel very lucky to have both her faith and expertise behind me. I have never experienced more joy in the act of writing, and it’s my hope that that same feeling meets readers when this book arrives in the world in 2028.”
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In The Irish Times tomorrow, comedian and author Robert Newman tells Niamh Donnelly about his new novel, Intelligence; Colm Tóibín writes about the quality of Mary Lavin’s short stories; in Weekend Review, I talk to booksellers about last year’s sales figures and how 2026 is shaping up to be a “bumper year”; and there is a Q&A with Cathy Kelly about her latest novel, her career and her work as a Unicef ambassador.
Reviews are Sarah Moss on A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness by Michael Pollan; Sally Hayden on Fire in Every Direction by Tareq Baconi; Declan O’Driscoll on the best new translated fiction; Andrew Lynch on Everybody Loves their Dollars by Oliver Bullough; Rachel Andrews on The Disappearing Act by Maria Stepanova, translated by Sasha Dugdale; James Hanrahan on The Race Makers: A History of the Enlightenment’s Most Dangerous Legacy by Andrew S. Curran; Nathan Smith on Rousseau’s Lost Children by Gavin McCrea; Lucy Sweeney Byrne on Bad Fiction by Rebecca Sarah Ley; Paul Clements on local history; Ronan McGreevy on James Ryan and the Development of Independent Ireland, 1892-1970 by Michael Loughman; and Chris Doyle on Siege in Ireland, 1641-1653 by Pádraig Lenihan.
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Jonathan Cape has acquired Everything Is Nice, Everything Is Lovely, the new novel from Nicole Flattery, in a fiercely competitive auction, for publication in summer 2027.
The novel is described as an unnerving, deliciously precise portrait of a newly engaged couple, Brid and Mark, and their weekend at a spa hotel. “Wickedly funny and brilliantly observed, as the weekend wears on we realise that we are witnessing a perfectly curated golden couple walking hand-in-hand into the abyss, as the story of what brought them to the edge is gradually revealed.”
Flattery is the author of short-story collection Show Them a Good Time and the novel Nothing Special. She lives in Dublin.
Hannah Westland, publishing director at Jonathan Cape, says: “I have long admired Nicole Flattery’s writing and was completely bowled over by this new novel. She has a natural instinct both for sharp humour and deep tenderness, for showing us the wounds and weaknesses and surprising truths in her characters that they cannot see for themselves. She’s also very funny. This is a rare novel that is as propulsive as it is moving and I know that she has many more such outstanding works of fiction ahead of her.”
Nicole Flattery says: ‘I’m so delighted to be joining Jonathan Cape’s prestigious list. I loved writing Everything is Nice, Everything is Lovely and I’m thrilled that it’s found such a good home and editor in Hannah Westland.’
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Hachette Books Ireland is to publish The House of Gonne duology, a major historical literary fiction project by Helen Cullen, in a two‑book deal struck with Peter Straus at RCW. The first novel, Iseult, due out next February, reimagines the extraordinary life of Iseult Gonne, daughter of Irish revolutionary Maud Gonne and the child genius who was destined to become a muse to W.B. Yeats. The second novel, Maud, turns to Maud’s own remarkable story.
Ciara Considine, Publisher, said: “Helen Cullen is a writer of rare emotional intelligence and lyrical power. Her portrait of Iseult Gonne is both intimate and epic, a work of historical fiction that restores a remarkable woman to the centre of her own story. We are immensely proud to publish this ambitious two‑book project, which will continue with a companion novel exploring the extraordinary life of her mother, Maud Gonne. It has strong appeal to readers of The Paris Wife, Hamnet and The Hours, and to markets with interest in women’s untold histories, historical literary fiction and Irish cultural narratives."
Cullen said: “It has been an honour to write a novel that lifts Iseult Gonne from the footnotes of literary history. Too often she has been reduced to a muse or a supporting figure to the famous men around her, despite her own creative brilliance. This story writes into the silences of the archive to ask why. At its heart, it is also a portrait of a complex mother‑daughter bond – one I will continue to explore in the companion novel about Maud Gonne. I am thrilled to be working with Ciara Considine and the exceptional team at Hachette Ireland to amplify these women’s voices."
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Belfast author Liadan Ní Chuinn has been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award for her debut short story collection Every One Still Here (Stinging Fly Press; Granta Books), which traces the aftershocks of post-conflict Northern Ireland.
Also shortlisted are Ben Brooks’ The Greatest Possible Good; Gurnaik Johal’s debut novel, Saraswati; and Harry Shukman’s Year of the Rat.
Chief literary critic for The Times and Sunday Times and chair of the jury, Johanna Thomas-Corr, described the four books as ‘defiantly outward looking’ and ‘interested in society and our responsibility to each other,’ at a time when ‘young people are often criticised for living life through their screens.’
Thomas-Corr was joined in the decision by fellow judges Caleb Femi, Esther Freud, Graham Norton, Sathnam Sanghera and Lea Ypi. The winner of the £10,000 sum will be announced on March 24th at the Whitechapel Gallery.
Recent winners include Tom Crewe, Jay Bernard, Raymond Antrobus, Adam Weymouth, Sally Rooney, Max Porter and Sarah Howe.
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For bibliophiles and music lovers alike, this Sunday, March 1st, at 4pm, the excellent Dublin Bowie Festival presents a panel discussion on David Bowie’s 100 favourite books at the Royal College Of Surgeons Ireland. A voracious reader, Bowie drew heavily on his vast reading to inform many of his song lyrics.
Originating with the V&A David Bowie Is exhibition of 2013, the list names anything between The Iliad and A Clockwork Orange to works by authors like William Faulkner, Camille Paglia and James Baldwin or RD Laing, Camus and Sarah Waters. Even the Beano and Viz get a shout out. At the capable helm of Books for Kooks is Prof Eoin Devereux, co-director for the Centre for the Study of Popular Music and Popular Culture at UL, musician and co-editor of David Bowie: Critical Perspectives.
The panellists include Roisin Ingle (The Irish Times); Dr Leah Kardos (author of Blackstar Theory); Peter Quinn (author and vocalist with Rebel, Rebel) and Helena Mulkerns (author and arts journalist). Each panel member will select one of the books from the list and discuss it, with further conversation exploring the broader-reaching impact on Bowie’s creativity of the 100 titles. Promising to be a lively session, see details at DublinBowieFestival.ie
In the same venue at 11.30am Roisín Ingle also hosts I’m a Blackstar, a panel on how Bowie used his final album to turn his impending death into art. She is joined by Bowie’s musical director/guitarist/co-writer Gerry Leonard, Dr Leah Kardos, Doctor of Philosophy at Queensland University and author of Blackstar Theory - The Last Works of David Bowie, with other special guests.
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One of the most in-demand authors is appearing at a new literary festival in Co Antrim. Historian Andrew Lownie, whose royal biography ‘ Entitled : The Rise and Fall of the House of York’ has dominated the news agenda, is a headline act at the inaugural Magheramorne Literary Festival outside Larne. Lownie’s revealing account of the lives of Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten - Windsor was published last year.
The festival which takes place on the weekend of March 21 and 22 features former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and RTE journalist Miriam O’Callaghan who will be talking about their recently released autobiographies.
Set in the 42-acre Magheramorne Estate, the event also includes novelists Wendy Erskine, David Park, Brian McGilloway and will host the first appearance of Jan Carson’s new book Few and Far Between.
Local crime writer Adrian McKinty is also appearing with Colin Bateman. They will be joined by Jo Spain, who wrote the successful BBC series Mix Tape and Declan Lawn who writes the BAFTA and IFTA award winning series Blue Lights.
The festival begins with a short walk around the estate’s impressive grounds in the company of historian David Hume, Wicklow born photographer Sheena Jolley and writer Paul Clements, who is a regular contributor to the Irish Times.
The programme was curated by writer Stephen Walker, who has recently written two acclaimed biographies of Nobel Laureates John Hume and David Trimble.
Speaking to The Irish Times, he said, ‘ I am delighted that we have secured such a diverse range of top authors who are all wonderful story tellers. This is our first year and the response from book lovers and the local community has been really fantastic’.
The festival runs on Saturday and Sunday, March 21st and 22nd.
Tickets are available from magheramorneestate.com
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The 2026 Michel Déon Prize for nonfiction was officially opened for nominations yester day by the Royal Irish Academy. The €10,000 prize will be awarded in October to the author of the best non-fiction book by a writer living in Ireland. The winning author will deliver the Michel Déon Lecture in France in 2027.
Royal Irish Academy executive director Lynn Scarff said: “We are delighted to open nominations for the Royal Irish Academy Michel Déon Prize for non-fiction 2026. The Prize is an important initiative of Irish cultural diplomacy and a wonderful fixture in the RIA calendar that showcases and promotes the huge array of talent and excellence in Irish non-fiction writing.”
The prize, which is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, will be awarded to the author of the book that the judging committee consider to be the best work of non-fiction published in the previous two years from the eligible categories: autobiography, biography, cultural studies, history, literary studies, philosophy and travel. All readers, publishers and authors are eligible to nominate titles online until midnight on March 31st.
Vona Groarke won the 2024 Michel Déon Prize for non-fiction for Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O’Hara. The 2022 prize was awarded to Sally Hayden for My Fourth Time, We Drowned. In 2020 Conor O’Clery won for The Shoemaker and his Daughter. The inaugural prize in 2018 was presented to historian Breandán MacSuibhne for The End of Outrage: Post-Famine Adjustment in Rural Ireland.
Michel Déon (1919 –2016) made Ireland his home in the 1970s until his death in 2016 and is widely considered to have been one of the leading French writers of the 20th century.
ria.ie/grants-awards/prizes/michel-deon-prize
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Poets and authors at the start of their careers have the chance to spend a paid year overseas with the launch of this year’s Harper-Wood Creative Writing and Travel Award for English Poetry and Literature.
The annual award was established by St John’s College, Cambridge in 1949 to inspire an undertaking of creative writing by making it possible for the holder to engage in relevant, project-related travel and study.
St John’s Writer-in-Residence Vona Groarke, Ireland Professor of Poetry, said: “For decades, The Harper-Wood Award has been a significant stepping stone in the careers of fledgling writers, many of whom have gone on to feature among the most notable of our time.
“Providing crucial – and very generous – support at the launching point of a literary career, it offers the kind of validation so hard to come by at that stage. Without it, many writers who subsequently published prize-winning and celebrated books might not have seen a way forward, and might so easily have given up. It provides a vital link between imaging a life of writing and becoming a writer.”
Held for one year, the Harper-Wood Award is intended primarily for creative writers in the initial stages of their careers. Applications are encouraged from those whose work has not yet achieved book-length publication, such as a novel, book of short stories, poetry collection or play.
At the time of election, candidates must be a graduate of any university in the UK, Ireland, the Commonwealth or the US. The deadline is April 22nd. Details here.
This year is the 225th anniversary of the publication of Maria Edgeworth’s controversial novel Belinda. To celebrate the event, the Maria Edgeworth Centre is holding events in Dublin on March 26th. Dubray bookstore Grafton Street will have the novel on sale and there will be a rare First Edition of the novel on display. It will be followed by a talk in TCD by Prof Jim Chandlier University of Chicago.
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As Listowel Writers’ Week prepares to celebrate its 55th edition, the country’s oldest literary festival has released a first glimpse of what lies ahead. Memoirist Katriona O’Sullivan, novelists Edel Coffey and Mary Costello, and Laureate for Irish Fiction Eílís Ní Dhuibhne will feature. Crime fiction will be strongly represented by Liz Nugent and Claire Coughlan.
Other big names taking part include Fergal Keane , trade union leader Mick Lynch, Booker shortlisted novelist Andrew Miller, Keith Ridgway and Ardal O’Hanlon. Hungarian poet and literary historian Győző Ferencz will travel from Budapest, while Scottish poet and critic Tom Hubbard will deliver his Seamus Heaney lecture, The Emerald Passport: Seamus Heaney and Europe.
Chairman Ned O’Sullivan said the 55th anniversary is a moment of pride. “To reach fifty five years is a remarkable achievement. This festival was founded by people who believed that literature belonged in Listowel and that writers and readers should meet face to face. We are proud of that legacy. The 55th edition celebrates those who built it and those who continue to sustain it.”
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Discover Irish Children’s Books is holding a symposium for all adults interested in writing and illustrating children’s books, plus teachers, librarians, parents and children’s book fans in the dlr LexIcon Library and Cultural Centre on Saturday, June 6th, from 11am to 5pm.
Speakers include award-winning Irish authors and illustrators, from Eoin Colfer and PJ Lynch to Deirdre Sullivan and Patricia Forde.
There will be a panel focused on Irish and international children’s publishing, lots of information and news from the Children’s Book Fair in Bologna, and another panel about events in schools and libraries. Plus a show case of new Irish children’s books for all ages and plenty of time to meet and mingle with fellow children’s book enthusiasts.
Full details and timetable on the Eventbrite page.
