Authors at Books 2009

Amy Huberman is from Dublin, where she still lives. She is an actress, best known for her role as Daisy in the popular RTÉ series The Clinic. Hello, Heartbreak is her first novel.

Author Events

Benjamin Black is the pseudonym of John Banville, widely regarded as one of Ireland 's great prose stylists and the author of ten novels including the Booker Prize-winning The Sea (2006). Banville's late conversion to genre fiction raised a few eyebrows but only for as long as it took the curious to discover his marvellously evocative Dublin noir crime series featuring his protagonist, the lugubrious pathologist Quirke. The third in the series, The Lemur, was published in October 2008.

Crime Events

Nick Laird was born in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone in 1975, and studied in Cambridge and Harvard. He is the author of two collections of poetry and the acclaimed novels Utterly Monkey and Glover's Mistake, both published by 4^th Estate. He recently taught creative writing at Columbia University in New York.

Author Events

Cathy Kelly is a number 1 international bestselling author.  She worked as a journalist before becoming a full-time writer.  Her first book was Woman to Woman and her new book, Once in a Lifetime, has just been published by Harper Collins.

Author Events

Colin Bateman published his debut novel, Divorcing Jack, in 1994, a blend of light comedy and dark thrills which set the tone for his entire career. His latest novel, Mystery Man, is his 23^rd, a body of work which includes writing for young adults. Mystery Man was chosen by Richard and Judy as one of their ‘Summer Reads'.

Crime Events

Diarmuid Gavin has spent his twenty-year career successfully challenging the traditional conventions of garden design. He has been awarded several medals at the Chelsea Flower Show. He runs a garden design business based in Dublin and London with clients in the United Kingdom and abroad, and he lectures widely on landscape design and the development of the modern garden. Gavin's  books include Design Your Garden and Outer Spaces and Outdoors The Garden Design Book for the Twenty-First Century.

Author Events

Brian Keenan was born in Belfast in 1951. An Evil Cradling is the story of his four years' captivity in Beirut and is recognized as a non-fiction classic. He is also the author of the novel, Turlough and two travel books, Between Extremes (with John McCarthy) and Four Quarters Of Light.His autobiography I'll Tell Me Ma has just been published by Jonathan Cape. He lives with his family outside Dublin.

Author Events

Edna O'Brien was born in Co Clare and now lives in London. She is a member of Aosdána. Her novels include ‘The Country Girls', ‘The Girl with Green Eyes', ‘Girls in their Married Bliss' ,'August is a Wicked Month', ‘Time and Tide', ‘House of Splendid Isolation' and ‘The Light of Evening'. Her short stories include ‘The Love Object & Other Stories',
‘Mrs Reinhardt and Other Stories', ‘A Fanatic Heart Selected Stories', and ‘Lantern Slides'. Her plays include A Pagan Place Virginia and Beloved. She has received many awards, including that of the Los Angeles Times; Writers' Guild of Great Britain; European Literature Prize and the Italia Prima Cavour.

Author Events

Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. His first novel, The Commitments, was published to great acclaim in 1987 and was made into a film. He also wrote anumber of other popular around the world books:The Snapper ,The Van, PaddyClarke Ha Ha Ha; and screenplays including the television drama series, Family;Hell for Leather, produced by RTE, and two plays, Brownbread and War. Roddy’sfirst children’s book, The Giggler Treatment, was soon followed by two other books in the series: Rover Saves Christmas and The Meanwhile Adventures. A first youngadult book Wilderness, was published in 2007. Her Mother’s Face, illustrated by FreyaBlackwood, is Roddy’s first picture book and was published in 2008.

Children Events

Michael Mansfield QC was born in 1941 and educated at Highgate School and Keele University. Called to the Bar in 1967, he established Tooks Chambers, in 1984 and became Queen's Counsel in 1989. He has represented defendants in criminal trials, appeals, inquests and inquiries in some of the most controversial legal cases the country has seen, particularly where issues of Civil Liberty have arisen; he is President and Patron of numerous organisations including the Haldane, Amicus and Viva!, Professor and Honorary Fellow of many universities as well as being a regular contributor to public debates on human rights issues. His new book Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer will be published in September by Bloomsbury

Author  Events

William Boyd is the author of eight previous novels, most recently Any Human Heart. A number of is works received many prestigious awards all over the world. His books include: Good Man in Africa, An Ice Cream War, Brazzaville Beach, The Blue Afternoon and many more. In addition, some thirteen of his screenplays have been filmed and in 1998 he both wrote and directed the feature film, The Trench. His new novel Ordinary Thunderstorms will be published in September by Bloomsbury.

Crime Events

Sebastian Faulks was born in 1953. After graduating from Cambridge he became
a journalist, and was the first literary editor of the Independent. In 1995
he was Author of the Year at the British Book Awards and in 2003 Birdsong
was voted number 13 in the BBC's Big Read list of the nation's favourite
books. He lives with his wife and three children in London.

Author Events

Born and raised in Dublin, Celine Kiernan currently lives with her family in Co. Cavan. Trained at the SullivanBluth Studio, she worked for many years infilm animation. Celine’s debut novel The Poison Throne – the first book in TheMoorehawke Trilogy - was published in 2008 and it has captured the imagination of readers everywhere. The Crowded Shadows follows the tale of WynterMoorehawke, and Celine is currently working on the final instalment of the trilogy.Ireland’s most notorious gangland figures.

Children Events

Alex Barclay is the author of four thrillers, the latest of which, Blood Runs Cold, won the inaugural Crime Fiction gong at the Irish Book Awards. Black Run, the sequel to Blood Runs Cold, will be published by Harper in November.

Crime Events

John Connolly published his first novel, Every Dead Thing, in 1999. Most of his novels have featured the private eye Charlie Parker, as does his latest offering, The Lovers (2009). He has also written the standalone novels Bad Men and The Book of Lost Things, and a collection of short stories, Nocturnes. John lives in Dublin.

Crime Events

Marina Lewycka was born in Kiel, Germany at the end of the war and grew up in England. She is married with a grown-up daughter and lives in Sheffield. Her two previous novels are: A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian and Two Caravans.

Author Events

In the world of Irish books, Sarah Webb has been variously a bookseller, marketing consultant, occasional journalist, promoter and champion of children's books, and most notably, a hugely successful writer of women's fiction.  Her seven novels have all been bestsellers and the latest is When the Boys are Away.  A new series of children's books is slated for the spring of 2009.  She lives in South Dublin with her partner and three children.

Children Events

Patricia Scanlan was born in Dublin, where she still lives. She is the author of numerous bestselling novels including , Two for Joy, Double Wedding ,Divided Loyalties, Forgive and Forget and her most recent book  Happy Ever After. She has also written Winter Blessings, a collection of quotes, blessings, poems and reminiscences. Patricia is the series editor and a contributing author to the Open Door series. She also teaches creative writing to second-level students and is involved in Adult Literacy

Author Events

Sheila O'Flanagan is the author of 14 novels and is a No.1 bestseller in the UK and Ireland. She pursued a very successful career in banking, foreign exchange dealing and treasury management before becoming a full time writer. She writes a monthly column for The Irish Times and in her spare time plays competitive Badminton

Author Events

Ruth Dudley Edwards is a journalist, novelist and author. She won the Last Laugh Award at Bristol’s Crimefest in 2008 for her comedy crime novel Murdering Americans. Her current offering is Aftermath: The Omagh Bombing and the Families’ Pursuit of Justice, which was published by Harvill & Secker in July.

Crime Events

Anita Notaro was formerly a TV producer, journalist and director who worked for RTE for eighteen years. She has directed the Eurovision Song Contest and the Irish General Election, as well as programmes for the BBC and Channel 4. She is the author of four novels: ‘Back After the Break', ‘Behind the Scenes', ‘The WWW Club', and ‘Take a Look at Me Now', the last of which won the Galaxy Popular Fiction Award at the 2008 Irish Book Awards.

Author Events

Fiachra Sheridan was born in Dublin in 1974. He grew up in Dublin's north inner city, where he works as a teacher of Mathematics and Business Studies. As a student, he went to the USA on a football scholarship at Radford University, Virginia, and played League of Ireland Division 1 football for Home Farm and Kilkenny City on his return to Ireland.  The Runners, published this summer by New Island, is his first novel.

Author Events

Emer Connolly is a journalist with the Clare People newspaper. She is the author of Lying Eyes and The Hitman for Hire, the Sharon Collins story. Emer, who is based in Ennis, won two Justice Media Awards from the Law Society of Ireland for her courts coverage in 2006 and 2007.

Crime Events

Trevor Byrne was born in 1981 and brought up in Clondalkin, Co Dublin. He attended Trinity College and the University of Glamorgan, where he teaches creative writing. His first novel Ghosts & Lightening was published this year by Canongate.

Author Events

Described by the Irish Independent as "an author who can write like hell", Cormac Millar is the author of two crime novels set in Dublin: An Irish Solution and The Grounds, featuring pseudo-hero Séamus Joyce. A third novel is on the stocks. Cormac's website lists more than 100 Irish crime writers.

Crime Events

Brian McGilloway’s police procedural novels are set in Donegal, and feature Detective Inspector Ben Devlin. The second in the series, Gallows Lane, was shortlisted for the Crime Fiction award in this year’s Irish Book Awards. Brian’s third novel, Bleed a River Deep, was published in May by Macmillan.

Crime Events

Gene Kerrigan is a journalist with the Sunday Independent. He has published non-fiction books in the past, including the essay collections Hard Cases and This Great Little Nation. Dark Times in the City is his third novel, following Little Criminals and The Midnight Choir.

Author Events

Declan Burke is the author of Eightball Boogie (2003) and The Big O (2007). He is the editor of Crime Always Pays, a website dedicated to promoting Irish crime fiction. He lives with his wife and baby daughter in Wicklow, where he is not allowed to own a cat.

Crime Events

Stuart Neville is the author of The Twelve, one of the most hotly anticipated Irish debuts of recent times. Claimed as the first great post-Troubles novel about Northern Ireland, it has been acclaimed by James Ellroy, John Connolly and Ken Bruen. It was published in July by Harvill Secker.  

Crime Events

Alan Glynn's debut novel The Dark Fields was published in 2002. His second novel, Winterland, will be published in November by Faber. The novel is "set to mark Alan Glynn as the first literary chronicler of post-Celtic Tiger Ireland," says John Connolly.

Crime Events 

Ava McCarthy's debut novel, The Insider, appeared in 2009. Set in Dublin and the Caribbean, it introduces the exciting new heroine, Harry Martinez. "A delight ... the tang of authenticity comes off every page," said the Daily Mail. McCarthy's second novel, also featuring Harry Martinez, will appear in 2010.

Crime Events 

John McFetridge is the author of the crime novels Dirty Sweet, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and Swap (Let It Ride in the USA) which Ken Bruen called, "...a stunning leap forward from an already fine author. This is John channelling Elmore Leonard at the height of his game and with dialogue that Tarantino would kill for. A plot that moves like Pulp Fiction with a nice Canadian slant that keeps it fresh and different." John is currently a witer on the TV show The Bridge which will premiere in the USA and Canada this fall. He lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife and two sons.

Crime Events 

Chris Binchy was born in 1970. He studied English and Spanish at University College Dublin and later graduated from the Master's course in creative writing at Trinity College Dublin. He worked as an embassy researcher, painter and hotel manager and later trained as a sushi chef. His first novel, The Very Man, appeared in 2003 and was shortlisted for the Hughes & Hughes / Sunday Independent Irish Novel of the Year award. His second novel, People Like Us, was published in 2004. He lives in Dublin.

Author Events

Niamh O’Connor is a crime reporter with the Sunday World. She has published the true crime books Cracking Crime (with Jim Donovan), The Black Widow and Blood Ties. Transworld Ireland will publish Niamh’s debut novel, If I Never See You Again, in 2010.

Crime Events 

Declan Hughes is the author of Ed Loy series of private eye novels. He has been shortlisted for numerous prizes, including the prestigious Edgar (US) and Theakston’s Old Peculier prize at Harrogate (UK) in 2009 alone. His latest novel, All the Dead Voices, the fourth in the Ed Loy series, is published by John Murray.

Crime Events 

Paul Williams is a crime correspondent with the Sunday World. A qualified criminologist, he is the author of a number of best-selling true crime books, including The General (1995) and The Untouchables (2006), which was adapted by TV3 for the TV series ‘Dirty Money’. His latest book is Crime Wars (2008), which is published by Merlin.

Crime Events 

Claudia Carroll was born in Dublin, where she still lives and now works as a full-time writer. Claudia isn’t married and the titles of her books tend to come from phrases she finds herself using with alarming regularity, particularly after rubbish dates. She is currently hassling producers for a walk-on extra part in the movie and isn’t a bit fussy about what she plays, as long as they let her keep the clothes. Titles: I Never Fancied Him Anyway, Remind Me Again Why I Need A Man.

Workshops

Amanda Brunker is an Irish tabloid columnist and a former Miss Ireland.
Glamorous and outspoken, she's rarely out of the public eye. Both her books
Champagnes Kisses and Champagne Babes have been bestsellers.

Workshops

Clodagh Murphy was born in Dublin but moved to London in the 1980s and lived there for several years. An aunt to five nephews and one niece, she currently lives in Dublin with her beloved laptop. The Disengagement Ring is her first novel.

Workshops

Roisin Meaney was born in Listowel, Co Kerry, She has lived in the US, Canada, Africa and Europe. In 2002, Roisin won the Tivoli Write a Bestseller competition with her first novel, The Daisy Picker, which was subsequently followed by Putting Out the Stars. Her most recent book is Half Seven on a Thursday. Roisin is currently based in Limerick where she also teaches part-time. She is the author of the No. 1 bestselling The Last Week of May (2006) and No. 2 The People Next Door (2007).

Workshops

Fiona O’Brien lives in Sandymount in Dublin.  She left an award-winning career in advertising to write her first novel Charity, followed by her second novel Sold, a cracking tale of wildly-climbing property prices and socialites, in the wake of the Celtic Tiger. Her last novel “None of my Affair” went to No. 5 in the bestseller chart on paperback publication in January 2009 and is published by Hodder in the UK this month with some outstanding reviews.  “No Reservations”, her fourth novel, is going to be the hottest yet.   It was released in Ireland on 4th June 2009.

Workshops

Tara Heavey’s early childhood was spent in London, until her family moved to Dublin when she was twelve. Before becoming a full-timewriter, she was a solicitor. She lives in Co. Kilkenny with her husband andtwo children. She has written 3 novels so far: A Brush with Love (Tivoli)which went straight to number one in the Irish bestseller lists, EatingPeaches (Tivoli) and Making It Up As I Go Along (Tivoli). Sowing the Seeds ofLove is her fourth novel.

Workshops

Niamh Greene lives in Wexford with her husband and two children. Letters to a Love Rat is her third book. She is the bestselling author ofSecret Diary of a Demented Housewife and Confessions of a DementedHousewife.

Workshops

Rosoff was born in Boston, MA in 1956. She attended Harvard University and after 3 years there she moved to England and studied sculpture. She returned to the United States to finish her degree in 1980, and later moved to New York City for 9 years, where she worked in publishing and advertising. Aged 32,[1], Rosoff returned to London and has lived there ever since. She began to write novels after her youngest sister died of breast cancer. Titles: How I Live Now (2004), Meet Wild Boars, Just in Case (2006), What I Was (2007), followed by two additional collaborations with Sophie Blackall: Wild Boars Cook and Jumpy Jack and Googily. Her fourth novel, The Bride's Farewell, will be released in 2009.

Author Events

Mandasue Heller isn’t just a writer, she’s also a singer with cabaret and rock groups, seventies soul cover bands and blues jam bands! Born in Cheshire, she moved to Manchester in 1982, and spent ten years living in the notorious Hulme Crescents, which have since become the background to her novels. Tainted Lives is her fifth novel.

Crime Events

Derek Landy has become a major children's author in a remarkably short space of time, his Skulduggery Pleasant series having established itself almost immediately. Before writing his children's story about a sharply-dressed skeleton detective, Derek wrote the screenplays for a zombie movie and a murderous thriller in which everybody dies. As a black belt in Kenpo Karate he has taught countless children.

Children Events 

P.J. Lynch has become one of the most-decorated of children's book illustrators, with awards including the Mother Goose Award, the Christopher Medal three times, and the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal on two occasions. "The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey" has sold more than a million copies in the US. His recent illustrated A Christmas Carol was a huge bestseller. P.J. lives in Dublin with his wife and their three young children.

Children Events 

Don Conroy is a man of many talents - a writer, a television presenter, a naturalist, an environmentalist and a working artist who has had many exhibitions. Perhapsbest known to the young people of Ireland for his appearances as Uncle Don toDustin, Socky and Zig & Zag on RTE’s The Den, Don has also had a TV series of hisown - Paint for Fun, from which came a previous successful book. He has a weeklyshow on RTE 2 called “The Art of Don”. Don studied life drawings and cultureat the National College of Art and then worked as designer and illustrator for advertising agencies as well as in the theatre. Don is the author of many booksfor children and young adults.

Children Events 

Arlene Hunt's sixth novel, and the fifth in her acclaimed ‘John and Sarah' series, is called Blood Money. It will be published in October by Hachette. Her previous novel, Undertow, was short-listed for the inaugural Crime Fiction Award in the 2009 Irish Book Awards. Arlene's novels are set in Dublin.

Crime Events

Eoin McNamee has written critically acclaimed novels under his own name (Resurrection Man, 12:23, Paris, August 1997), crime thrillers under the pseudonym John Creed, and has also published the Navigator trilogy of novels for Young Adult writers. He is also a screenwriter.

Crime Events

Claire Kilroy was born in Dublin in 1973. Her novels are All Summer (London, Faber & Faber 2003); Tenderwire (Faber & Faber 2006/New York, Harvest Books 2006); and All Names Have Been Changed (Faber, 2009). All Summer won the 2004 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, and was shortlisted for the 2004 Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. She lives in Dublin.

Author Events

AJ Healy was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. Having completed school and a BComm, AJ travelled the world, working in Australia, before taking a job with Goldman Sachs in London. Two years later, he left Goldmans to start a brick factory in South Africa. After a series of mishaps
and adventures AJ returned to Europe, involving himself in a variety of ventures. In 2001 AJ ditched the world of entrepreneurial endeavour to follow his life-long passion -writing stories. In 2004 he wrote Tommy Storm.

Children Events

Catherine Dunne was born in Dublin. Her first novel, In the Beginning, was published in 1997. It became an international bestseller and was shortlisted for the Bancarella, the Italian Booksellers Prize. A Name for Himself, which followed in 1998, was shortlisted for the Kerry Ingredients Book of the Year Award. The Walled Garden was published in 2000; Another Kind of Life in 2003; Something Like Love in 2005 and At A Time like This in 2007- all to critical and popular acclaim. Her latest novel, Set in Stone will be published in October by Macmillan

Workshops

Noëlle Harrison was born in England and moved to Ireland in 1991. She is the author of three previous novels, BEATRICE, A SMALL PART OF ME and I REMEMBER, all of which have been highly acclaimed and received. She has also written and produced plays, won awards for her short stories and has written extensively on visual art in Ireland. She lives and works in Oldcastle, Co Meath.

Workshops