In this session of Writer to Writer, Patrick Holloway dicusses THE LANGUAGE OF REMEMBERING (epoque press, 2025), his debut novel, with Jennifer.

Patrick Holloway is a prize-winning Irish writer of fiction and poetry. His debut novel, The Language of Remembering, was published in 2025 to critical acclaim. His second novel is forthcoming in 2027 with Eriu. His work appears in The Stinging Fly, The Moth, The London Magazine, Southword, The Irish Times and The Irish Independent. He is the winner of The Bath Short Story Prize, The Molly Keane Creative Writing Prize, The Raymond Carver Contest, The Flash 500, among others. He is an editor of the literary journal, The Four Faced Liar, and is the 2026 Writer in Residence in Maynooth University.

In this session of Writer to Writer, Irish author Barbara Leahy discusses REMBRANDT’S PROMISE, her fabulous debut novel, with Jennifer McMahon, our co-EIC.

Rembrandt’s Promise begins in 1642, during the Dutch Golden Age, and is inspired by the life and times of Geertje Dircx, a wronged woman who demanded justice. Geertje was Rembrandt van Rjin’s mistress after the death of Saskia, his first wife.

Barbara Leahy is from Cork. She was a winner of the Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair in 2023. Her short stories have won numerous awards, appeared in the Bridport Prize Anthology, the Bristol Prize anthology, and been broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1. Rembrandt’s Promise is her first novel.

In this moving and evocative story that seamlessly merges past and present, the author reveals a tale of enduring love and the memory of a passionate marriage.

Linda M. Bayley is a writer living on the Canadian Shield. Her work has recently appeared in voidspace zine, Five Minutes, BULL, Short Circuit, FlashFlood Journal, Underbelly Press, Stanchion, Does It Have Pockets, Roi Fainéant, and Tiny Sparks Everywhere, the National Flash Fiction Day 2024 Anthology.

Find her on Twitter and Bluesky @lmbayley.

In this session of Writer to Writer, Barbara Byar dicusses IN THE DESERT, her debut novel, with Jennifer McMahon.

IN THE DESERT is published on March 3rd, 2026, by Cowboy Jamboree.

It is available in U.S. at this link, and in Ireland and the UK at this link.

Irish readers can also get the paperback from O’Mahony’s Bookshop in Tralee, or from O’Mahony’s online store.

Barbara Byar is a working-class American writer living in Ireland for over 25 years with her two boys and two dogs. Her critically acclaimed, collection of stories: Some Days Are Better Than Ours (Reflex Press) was short-listed for the Saboteur Awards. Her short fiction has been published and prize-listed widely. including pushcart, best small fictions and best microfictions nominations. She was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Irish Short Story of the Year in 2023 and longlisted in 2021. A recipient of an Irish Arts Council Literature Bursary and an Agility Award, she is a previous novel fair winner and editor of the MOTEL anthology from Cowboy Jamboree Press.

International award-winning Irish author Nuala O’Connor discusses SEABORNE, her latest novel (shortlisted for Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards 2024), the craft and practice of writing, and neurodivergence with Jennifer McMahon, our co-EIC.

Nuala O’Connor lives in Galway, Ireland. Her sixth novel SEABORNE, about Irish-born pirate Anne Bonny, was published in April 2024 by New Island, and has been shortlisted for Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. Her novel NORA (New Island), about Nora Barnacle and James Joyce, was a Top 10 historical novel in the New York Times. She won Irish Short Story of the Year at the 2022 Irish Book Awards and is editor at flash e-journal Splonk.

Nuala O’Connor described Gary Finnegan’s winning story as

‘… a word-perfect gallop through the highs and lows of a post-Leaving Cert trip, and the swift transition from irresponsible child to semi-responsible adult-in-training. Great imagery and dialogue.’

Jennifer said:

‘Limbo Nights is a masterful story, set amid the painful transition between school and university. The characters are beautifully rendered, their conflicts real and palpable, their joys and tragedies vividly painted. A stellar performance by a writer who is clearly a master of his craft, and a story that will stay with me for a very long time to come.’

Gary Finnegan‘s fiction has appeared in Litro, The London Magazine, Howl, Ropes, and The Irish Independent. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and was selected for the Freedom to Write Award in 2024 by PEN/Ireland & The John Hewitt Society. Gary has an MA in creative writing and is working on a novel.

Alison Langley’s gorgeous and cautionary near-future tale deals beautifully with issues of consent, that which we willingly give, and that which we unknowingly sacrifice.

Alison Langley is a former journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, among others. Her novel, Budapest Noir: Ilona Gets a Phone (Dedalus Books, 2024) won the Irish Writer’s Centre Novel Prize. Langley’s short stories have appeared in various literary journals, and The Date was shortlisted for the 2024 Bournemouth Writing Prize.

Nuala O’Connor, our competition judge, described Amy’s Mom as

‘… a perfectly pitched, voice-lead story of the luck of the draw, where teen girls get a dose of reality, and try to cope with it. Charming, moving, and irreverent.’

Jennifer said:

‘Amy’s Mom is as heartwrenching as it is endearing. The writer uses a light touch, which is just perfect for this story, and by so doing, she renders her characters in glorious 3D. And the voice; oh my! This is sublime writing, and I simply adored it!’

Emily Rinkema lives and writes in northern Vermont, USA. Her writing has recently appeared in Variant Lit, Flash Frog, Fictive Dream, Ghost Parachute, and Wigleaf, and she won the 2024 Cambridge Prize and the 2024 Lascaux Prize for flash fiction. You can follow her on X, BS, or IG (@emilyrinkema).

In this session of Writer to Writer, Irish author Neil Hegarty discusses his debut novel, INCH LEVELS, and his second novel, THE JEWEL, with Jennifer McMahon.

Neil Hegarty grew up in Derry.

His novels include The Jewel; and Inch Levels, which was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Novel of the Year award.

Neil’s non-fiction titles include:

Dublin: A View from the Ground;

Frost: That Was the Life That Was, a biography of television journalist David Frost;

The Secret History of our Streets, which tells the story of twentieth-century London;

and The Story of Ireland, which accompanies the BBC television history of Ireland.

His short fiction and essays have appeared in the Dublin Review, Stinging Fly, Cyphers, PVA, Banshee, Tangerine, and other journals; and in a range of anthologies. Neil is co-editor of the essay collection Impermanence, which was adapted for radio by RTE. He is a regular writer on the Irish Times.

Neil lives in Dublin.