Alvy Carragher and Ali Choudhary win Eavan Boland Award 2025

Irish Times

01-08-2025

In the Irish Times tomorrow, Prof Paige Reynolds, curator of a new exhibition at MoLI celebrating Irish romance fiction, champions this much maligned genre and shares a list of her favourites. And there is a Q&A with Joseph Birchall about his debut thriller In Plain Sight.
Reviews are Eamon Sweeney on Bless Me Father: A Life Story by Kevin Rowland & The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley and the Partnership that Rocked the World by Peter Guralnick; Daniel Geary on Buckley by Sam Tanenhaus; Neasa MacErlean on The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century by Tim Weiner; Claire Hennessy on the best new YA fiction; Julia Kelly on My Sister and Other Lovers by Esther Freud; Adam Wyeth on Groundwater by Thomas McMullan; Des McMahon on The Mind Electric: Stories of the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains by Pria Anand;
Tom Boland on AC Grayling's Discriminations; Pat Carty on Unbroken: Secrets, Lies and Enduring Love by Mary Attenborough & Michael Gallagher; Sinéad Mac Aodha on The Mobius Book by Catherine Lacey; Éilís Ní Dhuibhne
on Gratefully & Affectionately: Mary Lavin & The New Yorker by Grainne Hurley; John Gallagher on Mary Beth Norton, 'I Humbly Beg Your Speedy Answer': Letters on Love & Marriage from the World's First Personal Advice Column; Rachel Andrews on The Work We Need by Hilary Cottam; and Andrew Lynch on Goliath's Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse by Luke Kemp.
This weekend's Irish Times Eason offer is Heart be at Peace by Donal Ryan, just €5.99, a €6 saving.
Eason offer
Alvy Carragher and Ali Choudhary have won the Eavan Boland Award 2025, Poetry Ireland has announced.
Founded in 2021 to honour the poet's legacy, the award supports poets through mentorship and cross-border residencies. Eavan Boland championed diversity and new voices, stating that 'the margin re-defines the centre'. This award reflects her vision for a vibrant, inclusive poetry community.
The award invited early-career poets based in the UK and mid-career poets based in Ireland to apply for the bursary in addition to a residency at the Trinity College Dublin and University of Manchester as well as further development opportunities in 2026, all of which comprise the award.
Supported by Poetry Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Trinity College Dublin (TCD), the University of Manchester, and the British Council Ireland, this biennial award celebrates creativity, connection, and cross-border exchange in poetry.
Choudhary
is a writer, poet and multi-disciplinary artist exploring the poetics of violence and intimacy. He is an Emerging Creative Associate at New Writing North for 2025 and was shortlisted for the Tempest Prize. His limited-edition chapbook, Night of the Fire, was published by Ethel Zine & Micro Press in May. He will be based at TCD School of English for two weeks in November.
Carragher
is based in Dublin. She grew up in Galway and Tipperary and has since lived in Louisiana, Dublin, South Korea, and Canada. She has published three books of poetry: What Remains the Same (Gallery Press) which was shortlisted for the Farmgate National Poetry Award in 2025, The Men I Keep Under My bed (Salmon Poetry), and Falling In Love With Broken Things (Salmon Poetry). She will spend two weeks in October as a resident at the University of Manchester Centre for New Writing. She will take part in seminars and workshops in the Centre for New Writing and will have access to the John Rylands Library where Eavan Boland's archive is located. She will also engage with Carcanet Press while in Manchester.
Selectors of this year's Eavan Boland awardees were Prof John McAuliffe (Manchester) and Dr Rachael Hegarty (Dublin).
*
Celebrating its 15th anniversary, the UK and Ireland's only dedicated prize for LGBTQ+ literature has announced its 2025 longlists for the Polari Book Prize and Polari First Book Prize, celebrating a wealth of genres and forms, including poetry, memoir, crime and thriller, and romantasy.
This year's longlists include highly acclaimed titles, including John Boyne's novella
Earth
, the second book in his new series The Elements. Two-time Booker Prize winner Alan Hollinghurst is also longlisted for his latest novel
Our Evenings
, alongside the new landmark work
Like Water Like Sea
by Olumide Popoola. Lauded debut novels are also nominated, including
Isaac
by Curtis Garner,
Spoilt Creatures
by Amy Twigg and
Mongrel
by Hanako Footman.
The shortlists will be announced in late September, and the winners will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday, November 27th at the British Library.
In celebration of its 15th anniversary, Arts Council England is funding the Polari Prize 15th Birthday Showcase, a live platform for LGBTQ+ writers featuring previous winners and nominees, local writers and new emerging voices. There will be over 30 events in total across 2025.
*
The Irish Writers Centre in collaboration with Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, supported by Dublin City Council, has launched the first episode of its new six-part video series
Dublin, One City, Many Stories
. It features Joseph O'Connor, Chair of Creative Writing at the University of Limerick, in conversation with Madeleine Keane, reflecting on the places, people and experiences that shaped his writing life.
Filmed at the LexIcon Library and the James Joyce Tower & Museum in Dun Laoghaire, the episode sees O'Connor, an Irish Writers Centre ambassador, retrace the roots of his literary imagination. He speaks movingly of childhood walks through Dublin's storied streets, of libraries as sanctuaries, and of a deep connection to the voices that echo through Irish literary history.
'The hometown of a writer becomes part of the DNA,' says O'Connor. 'And I'm blessed that Dún Laoghaire is the place where I grew up. A coast-town has stories and glories, tides and ghosts, comings and goings, a bit of grit beneath the fingernails. From the pier and the Martello tower – if walls could talk – they'd tell secrets. I'm honoured to be interviewed for this series and I'm very proud to be an Ambassador for the Irish Writers Centre. I wish it had been there when I was starting as a writer and I'm delighted it's there today.'
The video is now available to watch on the Irish Writers Centre
website
.
The series of six videos continues monthly, showcasing more than 20 writers who reflect the depth and diversity of Ireland's literary landscape, including Suad Aldarra, John Banville, Ciara Ní É, Marian Keyes, Nandi Jola, Neil Jordan, Victoria Kennefick, Gustav Parker Hibbitt, Mike McCormack and more. The series celebrates 15 years of Dublin's designation as a UNESCO City of Literature.
*
Bookselling Ireland, the committee of Booksellers Association members representing bookshops big and small from across Ireland, together with Publishing Ireland, has announced details for this year's Irish Book Week campaign, which will run from Saturday, October 18th to 25th.
This year's campaign ambassadors are children's illustrator, Mel Carroll, who also designed the beautiful artwork for this year's campaign; Cork author, Patrick Holloway; historical fiction writer, Cauvery Madhavan; novelist Sheila O'Flanagan; and children's author, Máire Zepf.
Now in its eighth year, Irish Book Week is a nationwide celebration of Irish bookshops, Irish books, publishers, writers, illustrators, and poets. The campaign aims to encourage people from across Ireland to
shop local & shop Irish
by visiting their local bookshops to discover and enjoy a range of exciting and interesting events, readings, parties, displays and much more.
*
To mark the publication of
Our London Lives
in paperback, Atlantic Books is reissuing four Christine Dwyer Hickey backlist titles in matching livery, including
The Narrow Land
(winner of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction) and
The Cold Eye of Heaven
(winner of the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award). These four titles will be published on August 7th, each priced at £9.99.
Dwyer Hickey
was born in Dublin and is a novelist and short story writer. Her novel
The Narrow Land
won two major prizes: the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction and the inaugural Dalkey Literary Award. 2020 also saw her 2004 novel
Tatty
chosen for UNESCO's Dublin One City One Book promotion. Her work has been widely translated into European and Arabic languages. She is an elected member of Aosdána, the Irish academy of arts.
*
Write By the Sea Literary Festival
celebrates its 10th anniversary this September 26th-28th with a vibrant programme of readings, talks, and workshops in the coastal village of Kilmore Quay.
The festival opens Friday evening with an appearance by Claire Keegan. Saturday's line-up includes Joseph O'Connor, Roisín O'Donnell, Nuala O'Connor, Niamh Garvey, Sarah Moss, Lisa Harding, Dermot Bolger Mary O'Donnell, and Claire Hennessy. Colum McCann appears in conversation with journalist Lara Marlowe. Jan Carson joins Garrett Carr to discuss his acclaimed debut novel. David Butler leads a fiction seminar, part of a full programme of workshops and masterclasses. The day ends with a special evening of poetry and music from Paula Meehan and Declan O'Rourke.
Sunday blends fresh voices with established names. Debut novelists June O'Sullivan and Patrick Holloway present their work. Wendy Erskine and Donal Ryan discuss their recent novels. Kit de Waal and Christine Dwyer Hickey speak with Dr Richard Hayes, followed by appearances from John Banville and Victoria Kennefick. Poets Jennifer Horgan and Karen J McDonnell also feature. Eimear McBride joins Mike McCormack, and Theo Dorgan is interviewed by philosopher Richard Kearney.
The festival closes with Marian Keyes in conversation with Sophie White.
Weekend passes €145; day passes €80.
*
Simon & Schuster UK is to publish Sarah Crossan's new book, a YA thriller in verse, next February. Gone for Good has been described as Girl in Pieces meets One of Us is Lying, set against the backdrop of America's controversial Troubled Teen industry.
Connie Ryder is taken from her home in the dead of night and sent to Silver Lake Academy – a remote, high-security facility for 'troubled' teens. At Silver Lake, the vulnerable and the violent are locked in together under a brutal regime that aims to improve their behaviour. But when Connie learns she's been given the bed of a missing girl named Belle, she is drawn deep into a chilling web of secrets and lies.
Crossan has won many prizes including the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal, the CBI Book of the Year, the YA Book Prize, and the CLiPPA Poetry Award.