Burning Books Ireland

Author Wendy Erskine talks to Books Ireland editor Ruth McKee about Molly Keane’s Good Behaviour, Ian Hunter’s Diary of a Rock and Roll Star and how reading a book when you’re twenty is very different to encountering it at fifty—as she reveals which books she would save if her house was on fire.
Wendy Erskine’s first short story collection, Sweet Home, was published by The Stinging Fly Press in Sept 2018, and Picador in 2019. Her new collection Dance Move will be published by Picador in February 2022. 

Author Wendy Erskine talks to Books Ireland editor Ruth McKee about Molly Keane’s Good Behaviour, Ian Hunter’s Diary of a Rock and Roll Star and how reading a book when you’re twenty is very different to encountering it at fifty—as she reveals which books she would save if her house was on fire. From Friday 17th December, wherever you get your podcasts.

Author Donal Ryan talks to Books Ireland editor Ruth McKee about empathy, the mystery at the heart of writing, Doris Lessing, and having a crush on Sylvia Plath—as he reveals which books he would save if his house was on fire.

Donal Ryan is an acclaimed Irish novelist and short story writer, with best-selling books including The Spinning Heart (2012), which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, The Thing About December (2013), All We Shall Know (2016), and Strange Flowers (2020). He is the first Irish winner of the prestigious Jean Monnet Prize for European Literature for his fifth novel, From A Low And Quiet Sea (2018).

Author Donal Ryan talks to Books Ireland editor Ruth McKee about empathy, the mystery at the heart of writing, Doris Lessing, and having a crush on Sylvia Plath—as he reveals which books he would save if his house was on fire. From Friday 26th November, wherever you get your podcasts.

Nuala O’Connor talks about miniature dolls, the beauty of short things, quitting alcohol and clearing the decks at fifty as she tells Ruth McKee which books she would save if her house was on fire. 

Nuala O’Connor is the author of Becoming Belle (2018), Miss Emily (2015), The Closet of Savage Mementos (2014), You (2010) and six short story collections, her most recent being Joyride to Jupiter. Her fifth novel Nora is about Nora Barnacle, wife and muse to James Joyce, published in Ireland in April 2021 with New Island, and is the One Dublin One Book for 2022. 

Author Nuala O’Connor talks to Books Ireland editor Ruth McKee about miniature dolls, the beauty of short things, quitting alcohol and clearing the decks at fifty in the next episode of Burning Books, out on Friday 12th November on all podcast platforms.

Novelist and short-story writer Kit de Waal talks to Ruth McKee about The Bible, Donal Ryan, Penguin classics, the sea and much more as she reveals what books she would save if her house was burning, and which text she studied at school she’d leave in there to burn…
Kit de Waal’s debut novel My Name is Leon was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and her second, The Trick To Time was longlisted for the Women’s Prize For Fiction. She’s the author of the young adult book Becoming Dinah and is the editor of Common People, an anthology of working-class writers. 

Novelist and short-story writer Kit de Waal talks to Books Ireland editor Ruth McKee about Donal Ryan, Penguin classics, revenge, the sea and much more for the next episode of Burning Books, released on Friday 24th September on all podcast platforms.

Ethel Rohan talks to Books Ireland editor Ruth McKee about Emily Brontë, John Irving, and Elizabeth Strout as she reveals which books she would pull from the flames (and which classic Irish text she would leave in there to burn!).

Ethel Rohan is the award winning author of The Weight of Him (St. Martin’s Press and Atlantic Books, 2017) and of the new short story collection, In the Event of Contact (Dzanc Books 2021), described as “a taut and melancholy meditation on human (dis)connection in overlooked places and among underseen people.” —Sally Franson, San Francisco Chronicle

Rick O’Shea talks to Books Ireland editor Ruth McKee about a precious edition, his love of art, and Yoko Ono as he reveals what books he would save from the flames (and if he’d leave any behind to burn).

Rick O’Shea is a man of many talents, but is best known as a radio presenter on RTÉ and as the founder of the much loved Rick O’Shea Book Club.