Cormac Kinsella

When Penguin invited me to make my own selection for this volume it seemed to me that the choice should be as representative as possible of the whole body of my work in the field of the short story. But, as I have written well over one hundred stories in magazines and in the eleven volumes already published, it was quite clear that a very rigid method of selection would have to be imposed. After much casting about I hit on the simple solution of taking one story from each volume and, to simplify the choice further, making it the title story in each case. This presented one small difficulty: my first book did not have a title story but only a general one, Tales from Bective Bridge, so the choice was made at random. The method, of course, had a certain disadvantage in that titles of volumes of short stories are often chosen by the publisher for reasons other than merit but still in their own way valid. Counterbalancing this, however, I saw a very positive advantage: readers would not be presented with a bookful of stories with which they might already be too familiar from their inclusion in innumerable anthologies. I hope, therefore, that this method of selection will in fact be found representative of the work to which I have devoted myself almost exclusively for the past forty years. Mary Lavin February 1981

Mary Lavin had the most gloriously will-this-do approach to choosing the contents for her 1981 Selected Stories.

Sending this back out into the world: Everything Is Going to Be All Right — Derek Mahon.

"There will be dying, there will be dying,
but there is no need to go into that.
The lines flow from the hand unbidden
and the hidden source is the watchful heart..."

I’m so sad to hear this. Liam was a gorgeous man. RIP

Bualadh bos!

I'll be taking look at the week's new cinema on RTÉ Radio 1's Arena with @rickoshea.bsky.social after 7, including Filho's mesmerising The Secret Agent and Rose Byrne's frantic and fretful If I Had Legs. Do tune in!

😆

Gorgeous launch @hodgesfiggis.bsky.social last night for ‘In Glass Houses’ by the one and only @edelcoffey.bsky.social 👏👏👏👏 @sceptrebooks.bsky.social

Colm Tóibín introduces Mary Lavin.

An Arrow in Flight brings together 16 of Lavin’s most powerful stories, selected and introduced by Colm. In witty and sharp prose, these tales explore familial tensions, and 20th-century Irish society.

Preorder: https://bit.ly/3O6KyDY

Cover reveal for my new book, A Hosting, to be launched Tuesday, April 21 in Hodges Figgis. Designed for @lilliputpress by the brilliant Niall McCormack using the Louis le Brocquy print The Táin. Army Massing, 1969. Greatness by association.

Ahead of his special @writingandideas.bsky.social event in RIAM on March 16 - Neil Jordan tells us about his imminent novel ‘The Library of Traumatic Memory’. He’ll be in conversation with @mrkocnnll.bsky.social - booking here www.riam.ie/whats-on/the... @headofzeus.bsky.social

Really looking forward to this essay by Andrew O’Hagan. Link here www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

⚽️ HH - Richard Fitzpatrick

This explosive book explores the enigma of the incredibly charismatic 'HH': a philanderer, charlatan, trash-talker and serial winner mired in controversy.

Read more - www.bloomsbury.com/uk/hh-978139...

The image shows a still from the series These Sacred Vows, with Tom Vaughan-Lawlor pictured from the torso up in a swimming pool. He is wearing a black suit with a white priest's collar. It has a blue and purple gradient with the GCN logo and the article's title that reads: "Everything you need to know about new gay mystery These Sacred Vows". At the bottom of the image, a message says: "Read more on www.gcn.ie at the link in bio".

This is NOT to be missed 👀 🍿 Read 👉 buff.ly/yCWVEbW #GCNnews

Cover of the novel The Two Roberts by Damian Barr

A snap of two paintings by Robert Colquhoun, each is a pair of men holding hands as if dancing. They are standing side by side and the pictures are hung side by side.

Damian Barr standing in front of a big photo of artists Robert MacBryde (left) and robert Colquhoun (right). Bart stands between them. The photo is black and white and the artist are at easels in their studio.

Should you need a big gay love story for Valentine’s Day :)

👏👏👏👏

#TheWaterboys FISHERMAN'S BLUES REVUE at 3 Arena, Dublin, in the city where it all began. Sept 5th. Tx: ticketmaster.ie/artist/88886...

Just saw a duck carrying an umbrella

Instagram Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

Great couple of days at the Irish Bookseller’s Association conference www.instagram.com/p/DUnrRyJiHr...

Diana Copperwhite's stunning new show, The Only Thing is the Everything, opens this Thursday at Kevin Kavanagh Gallery in Dublin 8. As a long-time admirer of her work, it was an honour to write a text to accompany this exhibition. www.kevinkavanagh.ie/artists/33-d...

The cover of A Hosting: Interviews with Irish Writers 1991-2025 by Martin Doyle

Cover reveal of my new book and a link to pre-order. You’re welcome 🤓https://www.lilliputpress.ie/products/a-hosting-interviews-with-irish-writers-1991-2025

Saved by a stranger: The 100-year-old Irish man in London Michael Hopkins was let down by the Irish system as a child and the British system as an elderly bachelor. Then he met a photographer at a bus stop

Amazing article by Mark Paul.

Saved by a stranger: The 100-year-old Irish man in London

www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...

MRS PEARCEY by Lottie Moggach is out today with
Phoenix Books!

A powerful novel inspired by a true crime that scandalised Victorian society and a moving exploration of the secrets we keep and the stories we tell.

"A masterpiece" - Sathnam Sanghera
www.amazon.co.uk/Mrs-Pearcey-...

Also The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam - extraordinary piece of work.

We are looking for a part-time Event Producer festivalofwritingandideas.com/jobs/
Closing date to reply 18 Feb.

It is publication today for Late Heaney I am told, although I imagine it’ll be a while before I see it between ice storms and the broad Atlantic. I thought I’d share a few thoughts about it, as it’s a different kind of book for me in form and style.

global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Kennys are great value!!

That’s a beautiful edition

Looney Tuesdays | Best of Speedy Gonzales | Looney Tunes | @WB Kids YouTube video by WB Kids

👍 youtu.be/Kv6DJZssB6g?...

Great list. I might swap in ‘Pale Rider’ but not sure what I’d take out! 😉

Love it! This is also a classic from WC!