There’s a look in Fiachna Ó Braonáin’s eye—gleam, glint, hint—the mark of a true believer. A teenager rewired by Bob Dylan in Paris, raised on traditional Irish music and the wild wail of the blues, he’s been jumping between jigs, reels, sean nós and paint-stripping guitar solos ever since. As the heart and six-string soul of Ireland’s greatest rock n’ … Read More

Dorothy Cross was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1956. Her work ranges from object to opera: working with sculpture, photography and video. The works move from gallery and museum to external projects that may take years to make and may only exist for a short time – most recently  Kinship  where a 2000 year old Egyptian mummified body of a … Read More

Colm Tóibín was born in Enniscorthy in 1955. He is the author of 11 novels including The Master, Brooklyn, The Testament of Mary, Nora Webster, House of Names and The Magician. His work has been shortlisted for The Booker Prize three times, has won the Costa Novel Award and the IMPAC Award. He has also published many works of non-fiction, … Read More

Claire-Louise Bennett grew up in Wiltshire and currently lives in Ireland. In 2013 she was awarded the inaugural White Review Short Story Prize and her debut book, Pond, was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2016. Her second book, Checkout 19, was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize in 2021 and was part of the New York Times 10 Best … Read More

Sometime during Covid, and after thirty years as a music operative that covered everything from a freelance saxophonist and radio presenter to directing festivals and an elite UK performing arts school, Gerry Godley was looking for a new challenge. Bread proved to be the answer, patiently acquiring the intuition and dexterity that is the hallmark of the baker’s craft, fashioning … Read More

Iain Overton is an award-winning investigative journalist and author who has covered armed violence in over two dozen conflict-affected countries and reported from 40 more. He is the Executive Director of the London-based human rights charity Action on Armed Violence, where he leads research and advocacy on harm to civilians from armed violence, following a career with the BBC and … Read More

Christine Ellen Hynde (September 7, 1951), better known as Chrissie Hynde, is an American rock musician known as the lead vocalist for the rock band The Pretenders. Chrissie has been making music with The Pretenders since its conception in 1978. Hynde began her music career in the U.S. in her birthplace Akron, Ohio performing with many small local bands and … Read More

Elizabeth Strout is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Everything, Lucy by the Sea; Oh William!; Olive, Again; Anything Is Possible, winner of the Story Prize; My Name Is Lucy Barton; The Burgess Boys; Olive Kitteridge, winner of the Pulitzer Prize; Abide with Me; and Amy and Isabelle, winner of the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum … Read More

Anne Enright is the author of eight novels, two books of short stories and three selections of essays, most recently Attention. First Laureate for Irish Fiction, winner of the Booker Prize her most recent awards and honours include the Writers’ Prize for Fiction (2024) The Seamus Heaney Award for Arts and Letters (2025) and The Windham Campbell Prize (2025). Enright … Read More

Lemn Sissay is a poet, playwright, memoirist and broadcaster. He has performed throughout the world from The Library of Congress in The United States to  the National Theatre of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa to London Palladium in England.  His television documentaries have been nominated for Grierson BAFTA and RTS awards. His work in radio has been nominated for Sony and … Read More