In The Irish Times on Saturday, Niamh Donnelly shares some great suggestions for Christmas book gifts, broken down by category and interest. And there is a Q&A with Nicola Pierce, author of the award-winning Great Irish Wives: Remarkable Lives from History.
Reviews are Breandán Mac Suibhne on Canada and the Great Irish Famine, edited by William Jenkins; John Banville on Converts by Melanie McDonagh; Martina Evans on the best new poetry; NJ McGarrigle on The Northern Bank Job Glenn Patterson; Kieran Connell on The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie; Andrew Lynch on I’m Glad You Asked Me That: The Political Years by Terry Prone; Yvonne Watterson on Saints by Tim MacGabhann; Paul D’Alton on Beneath the Surface: A Doctor’s Journey of Empathy, Healing and Self-Discovery by Dr Harry Barry; Donald Clarke on The Great Gambon: Michael Gambon in his own words (and others) by Milly Ellis; Karlin Lillington on The Seven Rules of Trust by Jimmy Wales; Siobhán Long on The Sorrowful and the Great by Sean Potts; In Safe Hands by Mick O’Connor & A Brief History of Irish Traditional Music: From the Dagda to DADGAD by Erick Falc’her-Poyroux; and Sara Keating on children’s fiction.
This weekend’s Irish Times Eason offer is Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, just €5.99, a €6 saving.
*
Celebrated classicist, writer and broadcaster Mary Beard is to chair the judging panel for next year’s Booker Prize. She is joined by award-winning poet, writer and educator Raymond Antrobus; musician, writer and broadcaster Jarvis Cocker; journalist, editor and critic Rebecca Liu; and Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist, poet and essayist Patricia Lockwood.
The Booker Dozen of 12 or 13 books will be announced on Tuesday, July 28th, 2026, with the shortlist of six books to follow in September. The winner will be announced in November, and will receive £50,000, as well as the £2,500 awarded to each of the six shortlisted authors.
Beard said: “I’m hugely looking forward to being part of the Booker team this year, and to getting down to business with my excellent fellow judges. Along with the excitement is a little apprehension – not least because, like many people, I’m quite a slow reader, so will have to learn how to speed up a bit!
“The Booker is a celebration of fiction and fiction-writers in all their wondrous variety, and of their tremendous power to make us think differently about the world. But it is also a celebration of reading and readers, in all their wondrous variety: at their library desk, on the train, curled up in bed; the quick and the slow; the confident and the puzzled. It’s a celebration of the impact that words have on us all."
Last year’s lead judge was Roddy Doyle. The winner chosen was Flesh by David Szalay.
*
Picador is to publish Emma Donoghue’s new novel, Blaze, in spring 2027.
It is 2040 and in a ruined, violent New York, a young pigeon comes of age in her tight-knit flock. Blaze knows nothing of what came before, until an elderly stranger tells her a story which will change everything.
Donoghue said: “Pigeons have traditionally been our messengers, in war and peace, so, for an urgent tale about the way we’ve treated the nest we share with some eight million other species, I’ve turned to a pigeon. I couldn’t be more excited to publish Blaze with Picador."
*
Tickets are now available for the launch of Late Heaney (Oxford UP, January 2026) by Nicholas Allen at the Seamus Heaney Centre in Bellaghy, Co Derry on the evening of Saturday, February 28th, the highlights of which will be the appearance of Neil Hegarty and Iarla Ó Lionáird on the programme. There will also be events in Belfast on Monday, March 2nd at Queen’s, and in Dublin on March 3rd. Details here.
Allen is Baldwin Professor in Humanities at the University of Georgia.
*
State, In Relation, a new collaborative publication responding to the Irish Constitution, features contributions by writers and artists Nathan O’Donnell, Susan Tomaselli, Oein DeBhairduin, Clare Bell, Sonya Gildea, Nithy Kasa and Annemarie Ní Churreáin.
In 2021 Comhairle Contae Dhún na nGall became the first local authority in Ireland to adopt a motion embracing an all-island environmental doctrine known as the Rights of Nature. Inspired by this adoption Ní Churreáin created River, Sister, a poem in nine sections that explores the rights of Irish rivers.
State, in Relation, with its accompanying installation, Omitted Provisions, will be situated in the TBG+S Atrium at Dublin Art Book Fair 2025.
*
Halfway up the Stairs children’s bookshop in Greystones, Co Wicklow has just announced their Books of the Year for 2025. Their team of booksellers, Trish, Sarah, Susan and Grace, carefully selected their favourite books in each category: picture books, age 6+, age 8+, age 10+, teens, YA (age 15+), Irish language books, gift and information books.
Their overall winner is Badger Books by Paddy Donnelly, a charming picture book for young readers. When a young fox comes into Badger Books looking for a book about the jellyfish on the moon, Badger is flummoxed. He’s never heard of a book like this and shoos Rory out of the shop, but gradually he has a change of heart. A charming tale about kindness and honouring children’s creativity with detailed illustrations to pour over. Age 3+
Trish Hennessy, owner of Halfway up the Stairs, said: ‘The details in Badger Books are extraordinary, with something new to discover every time it is read. Watch out for a very special children’s bookshop (spoiler - it’s us!) featured on the pages.’
Their novel of the year is My Name is Jodie Jones by Emma Shevah, a moving and compelling young adult book (age 15+) about a smart teenage girl. Jodie Jones is dealing with a traumatic experience in her past while also navigating family problems and school pressure. Luckily, she has a magnificent best friend, Becca to support her. Age 15+
Sarah Webb said: ‘What an incredible book, with one of the most interesting and compelling teenage narrators I’ve encountered in many years. It’s a worthy winner of our Novel of the Year Award.’
Bray author Alan Nolan’s new book was a hugely popular choice with the Halfway up the Stairs booksellers and one of their Age 8+ Books of the Year. The Grand Central Cinema Club is set in Dublin in 1937. When Sylvie meets Jem and Juno, a brother and sister from the tenements, they bond over their love of films and matinee stars. A warm-hearted, sweet and funny adventure and friendship story, set in the golden age of cinema.
The full Books of the Year 2025 list can be found here.
*
A groundbreaking new monolingual dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge that provides people with a new way to understand, use and learn the Irish language — without relying on dictionaries in English or in other languages - was launched this week by President Catherine Connolly.
An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge [The New Irish Dictionary] is the first comprehensive monolingual “Irish-Irish” dictionary. Until its publication today, anyone trying to understand an unfamiliar Irish word or phrase typically had to look it up in an Irish–English dictionary and understand it through the lens of English.
An Foclóir Nua Gaeilge will be available to access free of charge online at Focloir.ie
*
The Arts Council has announced the recipients of its 2026 Artist in Residence awards. These awards, which are jointly funded by the Arts Council and partner universities, provide artists with dedicated workspaces and vital finances to develop their work, acquire resources and further Ireland’s vibrant creative scene.
This year, 12 artists across seven universities will benefit from this flagship programme. Their upcoming work will reflect the diversity and richness of Ireland’s creative landscape, with programmes spanning English and Irish-language Literature, Film, Digital Arts and Traditional Arts.
The writers in residence are Dean Browne (University College Cork); Colin Barrett (Dublin City University); Nicole Flattery (University of Galway); Oisín Fagan (University College Dublin); Sarah Maria Griffin (Trinity College Dublin ); and Patrick Holloway (Maynooth University ).
