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Irish women writers are taking international fiction by storm. Who are they? What do they read? And how do they feel about their work being described as 'chick lit'? Arminta Wallaceexplores the world of these authors, the subjects of a new RTÉ documentary

SINÉAD MORIARTY

Latest novel: From Here to Maternity(Penguin, £6.99 in UK).
Favourite book? The Grapes of Wrathby John Steinbeck.
Where, when and how do you usually write?In the spare room at home. I try to write 2,000 words a day. That might take me two hours one day and six hours another day.
What's the most important issue facing the world?Religious extremism.
What's the most important influence on your writing?I would say life is the biggest influence on my books. I suppose Irish voices - but not necessarily Irish writers. I think Irish people are the best storytellers in the world, so just being out and about, talking to people, listening and being lucky enough to live in Ireland.
What's your idea of the perfect day out?Having lunch outside in the sun with my family.
What do you think of the term "chick lit"?I don't have a problem with labels. As long as the people who read my books enjoy them, I'm not really bothered. I do think it's slightly derogatory, though. A woman would never refer to another woman as a "chick".

DENISE DEEGAN

Latest novel: Love Comes Tumbling(Penguin, £6.99 in UK).
Favourite book?There are so many I've forgotten most of them, but one book I loved was Zoë Heller's Notes on a Scandal. And I'm Not Scaredby Niccolò Ammaniti.
Where, when and how do you usually write?On the diningroom table or on the bed, usually in the morning, when the kids are at school.
What's the most important issue facing the world?Just the one? Well, I'm on a big environmental kick at the moment. I brought my kids to Sea Life in Bray, and I read that turtles have been on the earth for 150 million years and in the past 100 they're almost extinct. If you bring your kids to the zoo at all, you find that most of the animals we grew up with are on the danger list. But then there's a lot of poverty and injustice in the world. I don't think you could pick the environment over those, really.
What's the most important influence on your writing?Family relationships. Being a mum is a big, big thing for me. All my books have children in them. The first was about a nuclear family; the second was about a single mum; the third was about step-parenting; and the fourth will deal with fostering. So parenting seems to come into it a huge amount - although that's not necessarily deliberate.
What's your idea of the perfect day out?A deadline-free day where you're out in the sun with people whose company you enjoy, having a bit of a laugh. I don't think it matters what you're actually doing, as long as you're in good company, and there's nothing to distract you or stop you from enjoying it.
What do you think of the term "chick lit"?I don't find it offensive, really. It's just one of those words which summarise things. I mean, there's hen lit, there's "chick lit", there's "chick flicks". It's basically shorthand for women's fiction. But women read all sorts of things. Mind you, I heard somebody from the book industry say recently that that particular market is coming to the end of its life cycle - that people are reading more celebrity biographies and that sort of thing - so maybe we won't be using the label that much any more. But I guess people will always like to read about romance - just as there'll always be romantic films.

CATHERINE DALY

Latest novel: A French Affair(Poolbeg, £6.99 in UK).
Favourite book?Oh God. It's like saying, what's your favourite food? I read in excess of 100 books a year, so I'd rather not say, because it'll have changed next week.
Where, when and how do you usually write?I write at home, in an office in the attic. It tends to be when the kids are in school - and, if I'm working hard on a first draft, evenings and weekends as well.
What's the most important issue facing the world?At the moment it has to be global warming. I'm just changing all my light bulbs and planning to go on holiday by ferry instead of flying - I'm really looking at it seriously.
What's the most important influence on your writing?Probably other writers, although I wouldn't be able to point to anything in particular. Little bits of everything come through unconsciously. And, then, my own life and people around me.
What's your idea of the perfect day out?A sunny day somewhere new and unexpected in France; wandering through a market; finding somewhere really nice for lunch; chilling out for the afternoon, either sightseeing or crashing by the pool; then another meal in the evening.
What do you think of the term "chick lit"?It doesn't bother me to be described as a chick-lit writer. I don't care what label they put on me, but it irks me from the point of view of the readers. Categorising readers is wrong. I have absolutely no doubt about that, because I founded a website, www.writeon-irishgirls.com, and the people who go there don't read only romance fiction. They read all kinds of things. It's the book industry categorising a whole group of readers - and they wouldn't do it if they were men.

DENYSE DEVLIN

Latest novel: Hopscotch(Penguin, £6.99 in UK).
Favourite book?I usually say Arabian Sands by Wilfrid Thesiger. But I'll break from that and say Eucalyptus by the Australian writer Murray Bail.
Where, when and how do you usually write?I work in my little cubby at the front of the house. I've always during written school hours, because I have two kids, but I also do a lot of work at weekends, because I'm off duty on the taxi-driver front and the cooking front. Basically, "every minute I can get" is the answer to that. As to how, there are so many answers to that question: I was going to say obsessively. Yes, obsessively.
Most important issue facing the world?It's got to be global warming. That's terribly dull and boring, but what else can it be? There's also poverty in Africa, and global warming will make that worse. I mean, we're facing migration of 55 million people in the next couple of years - environmental refugees. I need go no further. We should all plant trees. Tell everyone to plant a tree in their garden. It might just make a difference.
What's the most important influence on your writing?Probably travel. I travelled a lot as a child, and I'd like to get it out of my system, but I can't - it just bubbles up all the time, no matter what I write.
What's your idea of the perfect day out?A picnic - made by my husband, who does amazing picnics - down to one of the beaches in west Cork on a hot day. We have the English Market in Cork, and he basically raids that, makes a very good salad dressing, adds couscous and olives, puts it all together and I get the benefit.
What do you think of the term "chick lit"?I think it's interesting that everyone is so sensitive about it. I hate the "chick" bit - but then there's lad lit, and, let's face it, "lad" isn't a great word either in that context. So it's a term that's there, and we might as well learn to live with it - and even appreciate it, because so many Irish authors are doing so well at it.

NIAMH GREENE

Debut novel: Secret Diary of a Demented Housewife(Penguin, £12.99 in UK, out in May).
Favourite book?It would be a toss-up between Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and Middlemarch by George Eliot.
Where, when and how do you usually write?I have about a two-hour window in the morning between dropping the children to school and picking them back up again. So usually I come in the door, make myself a cup of tea and sit at the computer for about an hour and three-quarters. At my kitchen table, surrounded by dirty dishes and dirty laundry piling up in the corner!
What's the most important issue facing the world?It's got to be global warming, hasn't it? Is that a really boring answer? That does worry me. It worries me for my children and how it could affect them.
What's the most important influence on your writing?My children, Caoimhe and Rory. They're my influence and my inspiration - not in a soppy way, just funny little things that they do. That's how the book started. I would take notes about things they said, so I didn't forget.
What's your idea of the perfect day out?It starts with the four of us going out for breakfast somewhere nice, then going for a long walk on the beach, possibly followed by a movie. Maybe somebody comes over and takes the kids for the night, so myself and my husband can go out. That happens very rarely.
What do you think of the term "chick lit"?I know I'm not supposed to like it, but it doesn't really bother me. Some people find it derogatory, and some prefer the term "women's fiction". I prefer "women's fiction", too, but if people want to call this book "chick lit" that's fine by me. As long as they enjoy it I don't care what they call it. As long as they have a good laugh I'm happy.

CAROLINE WILLIAMS

Debut novel: Pretending(Penguin, £6.99 in UK)
Favourite book of all time?That's easy. A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham. It's a book I've read three or four times and have loved it each time. I love his generosity towards the characters.
Where, when and how do you usually write?When I wrote the book I wrote every hour that I had. I'm very alert in the morning, so I'd get up at 6am and get a head start. I could probably write anywhere. I'm not that affected by my physical surroundings - and I'm not one of those people who say they have to do the washing-up first.
What's the most important issue facing the world?It would have to be environmental. I think that's a huge challenge - on a world scale, at governmental level, but also at an individual level.
What's the most important influence on your writing?I'm tempted to say my love of books, but, having said that, I don't write like the writers that I love. I worked in the book trade for years, selling books, and I love being surrounded by books. I just love books.
What's your idea of the perfect day out?I love the great outdoors, and I work in an office in the middle of town, so at this point a perfect day out would be a day by the sea, walking on the beach. It doesn't have to be lovely sunshine. It can be raining.
What do you think of the term "chick lit"?I think labels are useful for marketing departments, but limiting for writers and readers. There are hundreds of people employed in the book industry to ensure that we do judge a book by its cover, where it is shelved or who is quoted on the blurb.

ROISIN MEANEY

Latest novel: The Last Week of May(Hodder Headline, £6.99, out next month)
Favourite book of all time? Lolitaby Vladimir Nabokov.
Where, when and how do you usually write?I'm job-sharing at the moment, and I'm week- on, week-off, so on my weeks off I write from about 9am to about 4pm.
What's the most important issue facing the world?The one that seems to be exercising most minds at the moment is global warming. Not that I'm any authority on any issues, global or otherwise, but that's something we all need to worry about.
What's the most important influence on your writing?In terms of other writers I'd say Anne Tyler and Carol Shields. I'd aspire to be an Anne Tyler; I love her quirky characters and the fact that they're all very ordinary people with a slightly eccentric streak.
What's your idea of the perfect day out?By the sea, because I just love it; preferably sunny; a picnic would feature; fresh air, waves, all the stuff associated with a seaside experience.
What do you think of the term "chick lit"?Instinctively I veer away from it, because to me it suggests something very, very light and frothy, aimed at a younger age group - something without much substance to it. Maybe people would say I write chick lit. I hope not, because it's not what I aim to write.

KAREN GILLECE

Latest novel: My Glass Heart(Hodder Headline, £11.99)
Favourite book? Alias Graceby Margaret Atwood.
Where, when and how do you usually write?I often go to the National Library to write, if it's not working at home. I write better in the mornings or late at night.
What's the most important issue facing the world?The environment. It's too easy to say it's going to be a problem for the next generation - we have to take responsibility now.
What's the most important influence on your writing?I'm one of those writers who writes from observation, so each book is different. It depends who I come in contact with. My Glass Heartbegan with a conversation with a gentleman I met at a party who told me about having open heart surgery.
What's your idea of the perfect day out?A fine summer's day; a walk or a cycle around Valentia Island; going for lunch in the Lighthouse Cafe; and then a pint outside the Point at Reenard.
What do you think of the term "chick lit"?I'm not particularly comfortable with terms like "chick lit" and "lite lit"; they're a bit too facile to encapsulate what a book is about. I wouldn't classify myself as a chick-lit writer. If anyone asks me what kind of books I write, I squirm for a while and then try and come up with some way of saying: "Well, I don't write chick lit, but at the same time I don't write heavy literature, either."

JACINTA McDEVITT

Latest novel: Excess Baggage(Poolbeg)
Favourite book?Whatever I'm reading at the moment. My current all-time favourite is The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. I also have a book which I bring to readings with me. My father gave it to my mother, suitably inscribed, on their honeymoon. It's Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Where, when and how do you usually write?I always have a notebook with me, and I write anywhere if I get a chance. I was at Heathrow airport a while ago, and who did I see ahead of me? Only Colin Farrell. I went up and said to him,  would he be the first man to sign my corset? Because my notebook was in the shape of a black satin corset. He wrote "God bless" in the front of it. So now! It pays to always carry your notebook.
What's the most important issue facing the world?The topical one is global warming. But a lot of that destruction happened through ignorance: when we were starting down that road, we didn't know any better. Now we can try to put it right. Another thing we do know about, though, is violence. We know it's wrong, and we never seem to put it right.
What's the most important influence on your writing?Honesty. If you're honest in your writing - and that doesn't mean it has to be maudlin and sad and awful - that's the most important thing, because it means you use your unique voice.
What's your idea of the perfect day out?A day with family, where they pop in or out, or we all go off somewhere. And of course a day's shopping with my daughter and my daughter-in-law - and sometimes my mother and my sisters as well. That's always a great day.
What do you think of the term "chick lit"?I never minded it. It's an easy way for people to group together female fiction so that everyone knows what it is. At the beginning people got a bit antsy about it, because they thought it was a derogatory term, but now it's nearly a term of endearment.

KATE THOMPSON

Latest novel: Love Lies Bleeding(www.kate thompsonenterprises.com, first part free, final part €15).
Favourite book? Gone with the Windby Margaret Mitchell.
Where, when and how do you usually write?I work in my attic. I don't have a schedule, but I work for at least six or seven hours a day.
What's the most important issue facing the world?Global warming. I think we're murdering the planet.
What's the most important influence on your writing?Great stories. The books I read in childhood - Alice's Adventures in Wonderlandand all those. I was a voracious reader. I used to read Shakespeare plays for enjoyment. My sister used to make throwing-up noises at me.
What's your idea of the perfect day out?Lahinch Castle in Connemara. Long walk, lunch in the pub, another walk down on Gorteen Strand, back to Lahinch for dinner and stay overnight. I wish I was there now.
What do you think of the term "chick lit"?I think there's a snob thing going on. I mean, Marian Keyes writes chick lit, but Marian Keyes is judging the Orange Prize this year.

Arts Lives: Pop Fictionis on RTÉ1 on Tuesday at 10.15pm