Collaboration, Exhibitions, Writing Festival, Writing Life, Writing News

Swift and Vanessa Festival 2026

I’m delighted to be taking part in two events in the Swift and Vanessa Festival in Celbridge, County Kildare.

On Thursday evening, July 16th, join me for a Literary Evening where I will interview Mary O’Donnell about her latest novel – which is brilliant, by the way – Sweep the Cobwebs off the Sky (époque press, 2026). Geraldine O’Brien will interview Martina Murphy about her DS Lucy Golden series. The event takes place in the Hunting Room in the gorgeous Castletown House. Book your tickets here.

On Saturday afternoon, July 18th, I’m interviewing Dearbhla Mescal about her debut publication, Finding Joy – in itself a joy – in the lovely Church of Ireland Christchurch. Book your tickets here.

The festival runs until 19th July and has an astonishing array of events for all ages and tastes. I look forward to participating and attending many of the events.

Writing News

Glorious Annaghmakerrig Lake

I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to decamp from real life and spend a week in residence at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annamakerrig in Monaghan. What can I say that I, and others, have not said before? It is a truly magical place in which the creative spirit is given time and space to flourish – surrounded by like-minded-souls and facilitated by the most wonderful team guided by the calm, kind Director Anna Walsh.

I stayed in the Butler Room:

Photograph of a writing desk and lamp in front of a bay window with white shutters overlooking a green well-kept lawn and Annamakerrig Lake, Co. Monaghan. Photograph by Shauna Gilligan.

Not having to worry about shopping for food, cooking food, or indeed anything involving looking after a household for a week meant that I could immerse myself in the world of my fiction, walk in the countryside, and not having to hurry my thoughts or processes.

Close up of white flower against a green leaf. Photograph by Shauna Gilligan.

Walking included moments by the beautiful Annamakerrig Lake, watching the water for movement, following the clouds and searching for patterns (something I used to do as a child!).

Photograph of Annamakerrig Lake showing the boat house to the left and the lake to the front with silhouettes of trees. Photograph by Shauna Gilligan.

Now begins the next piece of the work – reviewing what I wrote, and edited, and deciding what to do with those words written in the luxury of peace.

Contemplation, On Reading, Writers Read

And it’s reading and re-reading time…

Seven books on wooden stairs, list of books below this photograph.
  • Paul Maddern (ed) Queering The Green (poetry)
  • Mary O’Donnel Sweep the Cobwebs Off the Sky (novel)
  • Liz McManus Tiny Bruises (short stories)
  • John O’Donnell Mr Hoo and Other Stories (short stories)
  • John MacKenna The Lock-keeper’s Wife (novella)
  • Moyra Donaldson The Thirteenth Moon (poetry)
  • Katriona O’Sullivan Hungry (memoir)

The above photograph and list show some of my current reads and re-reads. I often re-read books that stay in my mind – whether it’s for beautiful writing, the love of a character, or to remind myself of how something was structured. I also return to anthologies, in particular, because it’s rare to read one cover-to-cover on first reading. Always (not almost always, but always) I will find a new treasure of a word, a line, a complete something that will give me a new perspective or feeling about what it means to be human.