18-07-2025
Amanda Cassidy signs big book deal
In The Irish Times tomorrow, Michael Clune tells Tadhg Hoey about his debut novel Pan and his struggles with addiction; Éilís Ní Dhuibhne tells me about her appointment as the new Laureate for Irish Fiction; and there is a Q&A with Aisling Rawle about her debut novel, The Compound.
Reviews are Mei Chin on Moveable Feasts by Chris Newens; Tart by Slutty Cheff; The Jackfruit Chronicles by Shahnaz Ahsan; Care and Feeding by Laurie Woolever; Jimi Famurewa's Picky; and Strong Roots by Olia Hercules; Tony Clayton-Lea on the best new music books; Declan O'Driscoll on fiction in translation;
Neil Hegarty on Tree Hunting: 1,000 Trees to Find in Britain and Ireland's Towns and Cities by Paul Wood; Maija Makela on Notes to John by Joan Didion; Lucy Sweeney Byrne on Beautiful Lives: How We Got Learning Disabilities So Wrong by Stephen Unwin;
Ruby Eastwood on Drayton and Mackenzie by Alexander Starritt; Michael Cronin on Seascraper by Benjamin Wood; Adrienne Murphy on The Crying of the Wind: Ireland by Ithell Colquhoun; Oliver Farry on A Genocide Foretold: Reporting on Survival and Resistance in Occupied Palestine by Chris Hedges; and John Boyne on Speak to Me of Home by Jeanine Cummins.
This weekend's Irish Times Eason offer is Intermezzo by Sally Rooney, just €5.99, a €6 saving.
Eason offer
Amanda Cassidy has signed a big UK and US deal for her forthcoming novel,
Beautiful Liars
. It will be published as a lead title by Century (Penguin Random House) in the UK and by Putnam in the US, the same publisher behind
Big Little Lies.
Her latest novel, The Stranger Inside, is being published next month by Canelo.
Century fiction publishing director Emily Griffin acquired World Rights to
Beautiful Liars
plus an untitled novel by the bestselling Irish crime writer Amanda Cassidy in a major pre-empt from Diana Beaumont at DHH Literary Agency. North American rights were acquired by executive editor Melanie Fried at Putnam, also in a major pre-empt.
Beautiful Liars
tells the story of an upscale Dublin community rocked by the disappearance of a 17-year-old girl, Saskia, who vanishes during a game of dares in the woods. As tension mounts, three mothers find themselves navigating their worst fears and darkest instincts to protect their children who were with Saskia the night she vanished. These are families who have always used wealth to shield their children from just about anything. Saskia's younger sister, Maude, is determined to find out what happened that terrible night, whatever the cost…
Cassidy is an author, commissioning editor and former Sky News reporter. Her debut novel,
Breaking
, was shortlisted for the 2023 CWA John Creasey Dagger Award. Her third novel,
The Perfect Place
, was an instant
Irish Times
bestseller.
Cassidy said: "
Beautiful Liars
began with my fascination for what really happens behind the closed doors of a seemingly privileged life – where parents will do almost anything to protect their children, especially when they have the means to make problems disappear. I grew up on bedtime stories of Irish folklore that always carried a hint of darkness, so that edge naturally finds its way into my novels. I'd walk the beach near my home in Dublin while sisters Saskia and Maude came alive in my mind. I feel incredibly lucky to have found the dream team at Century and Putnam who immediately understood the heart of this story, and I'm so excited to share it with readers everywhere."
Griffin said: 'From the first page of
Beautiful Liars
I could feel a star quality in Amanda's writing – it is at once propulsive and thought-provoking and full of meaty talking points. Layer by layer, Amanda pulls back the secrets contained within a close-knit community as she explores how far people are prepared to go to protect those they love. Into this addictive narrative she cleverly weaves in Irish folklore and wolves to create a truly unforgettable reading experience. Readers who love Liane Moriarty and Tana French will find themselves instantly under the spell of this novel."
Beautiful Liars
will be published in spring 2027.
*
Longford County Library, Archives, Arts and Heritage Services has announced details of a new competition, Colum for Our Time. The competition is aimed at writers, artists or illustrators in both junior and senior categories. Writers are invited to produce a contemporary take on Padraic Colum's story The First Harp from his collection The Big Tree of Bunlahy, while artists are invited to create new illustrations for the story.
The Big Tree of Bunlahy is a children's short story collection consisting of 13 stories. The title comes from a famous landmark in the village of Bunlahy, where Colum's aunt Anne lived. The junior category invites entries from 12-17 years and the senior category invites entries from those aged over 18 years. The winners will receive €250 each and they will be presented with their prizes at the Padraic Colum Gathering in Granard Community Library on October 4th.
Entries should be submitted to
libraryhqteam@
by midnight on August 31st. For more information, or to request the project brief, application form and a copy of the short story, please email
libraryhqteam@
or call 043-3341124.
*
The third annual Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School will take place at the Thomas MacDonagh Museum in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, from September 17th-20th. The programme, whose theme is
Political Theatre: Learning from the past?
,
includes talks and readings, scriptwriting workshops and an exhibition by North Tipperary Artists' Collective.
Assistant Professor in the School of History, DCU,
Dr Leeann Lane's
keynote address is titled Hunger strike as republican performativity: Mary MacSwiney, Brixton, 1920, Mountjoy 1922, Kilmainham 1923.
Williams Rossa Cole
, great-grandson of O'Donovan Rossa, will introduce his film, Rebel Wife: The Story of Mary Jane O'Donovan Rossa, and take questions following the screening.
James Moran
, Professor of Modern English Literature and Drama at Nottingham University, will deliver a talk on The playwrights and 1916. The presentation will feature extracts from plays, including
The Plough and the Stars
.
In their discussion Poetry and Politics: Plural Perspectives,
Dr Ailbhe McDaid
and
Prof Eugene O'Brien
, of Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, will discuss how poets respond to different political events, and the symbolic (even theatrical) language of poetry to capture the past and current political upheavals.
Tickets are available at this
link
.
*
The 2025 Forward Prizes for Poetry shortlists have been announced.
Renowned for championing poetry at its most innovative, with new voices and internationally celebrated writers alike, the shortlists include British poet laureate Simon Armitage and, for the first time, BSL poetry from Raymond Antrobus and Zoë McWhinney.
The Forward Prize for Best Collection (£10,000):
I Sugar the Bones by Juana Adcock; Southernmost: Sonnets by Leo Boix; The Island in the Sound by Niall Campbell; Avidyā by Vidyan Ravinthiran; Wellwater by Karen Solie
The Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection (£5,000):
Theophanies by Sarah Ghazal Ali; Chaotic Good by Isabelle Baafi; Heirloom by Catherine-Esther Cowie; Altar by Desree; Goonie by Michael Mullen
The Forward Prize for Best Single Poem – Written (£1,000):
At Least by Abeer Ameer; Birds of the Arctic by Simon Armitage; A Parliament of Jets by Tom Branfoot; Girl Ghosts by Tim Tim Cheng; Codex© by Nick Makoha
The Forward Prize for Best Single Poem – Performed (£1,000):
Dynamic Disks by Raymond Antrobus; Sikiliza by Bella Cox; Where I'm From by Griot Gabriel; Mum Does the Washing by Joshua Idehen; The portrait and the skylight by Zoë McWhinney
