I’m a writer, so my eye is always on writers, and in Ireland, we’re very lucky to have the best. Two authors in particular have books coming out soon, both from Belfast.
Róisín Lanigan is a wonderful writer. There’s an obsessiveness in her characters that I can’t turn away from—you’ll see this in a short story of hers called ‘How to Win’. She’s a bit like if Mary Gaitskill knew what a spicebag tasted like. Róisín has a debut novel coming out in March called I Want to Go Home but I’m Already There.
Another person I read a lot is Wendy Erskine. She released a short story collection called Sweet Home a few years back. If I’m sitting down to write, that’s one…