On the Town: 'The city is at the centre of it," said Denis Hickey, husband of Christine Dwyer Hickey, about her book, The Dancer. "It explores the intricacies of Dublin - with a slant to it, over a long period of time."
The Dancer, Dwyer Hickey's first book and the first in a trilogy, was published 10 years ago. It has been reissued by New Island on foot of the success of Tatty, her fourth novel, which was longlisted for the 2005 Orange Prize.
"I'd always been fascinated by the story of my grandfather, who was a dancer," said Dwyer Hickey.
Having her first book republished, was "like a second chance", she added. "It was overlooked, I always felt."
The Dancer is "a work of art," said Prof Antoinette Quinn, of TCD, when she spoke.
Among those who came to the publication party in Dubray Books on Grafton Street, Dublin, were travel writer Mary Russell, who is off to the Kyrgyz Republic next week to monitor elections, and Denise Deegan, whose third book, Trust, will be out next year, with her eight-year-old daughter, Aimée Concannon.
Other writers included Marita Conlon-McKenna, Patricia O'Reilly (whose seventh book, Time And Destiny, is about to be published in Italian), June Considine and Patricia Hickey, whose debut novel is Green Puppies, which is set during the first World War.
One of Dwyer Hickey's brothers, Owen Dwyer, has just had his first book published. The Agitator (Publish America) is about a serial killer, he said. Does it have a happy ending?
"Not for the victims," he answered smartly.
Also in attendance were actors Pádraig Murray, Donna Dent and Daniel Costello, from Nenagh, Co Tipperary, who plays the lawyer in the award-winning American play, The Glory of Living, by Rebecca Gilman. It opens next Wednesday at the Project Cube, Dublin.
The Dancer, by Christine Dwyer Hickey, the first in The Dublin Trilogy, is published by New Island. The Gambler and The Gatemaker will be reissued in 2006