The Living

By Léan Cullinan

Léan Cullinan comes from a line of writers; her paternal grandmother was the prolific author Eilís Dillon, her aunt is the poet Eiléan Ní Chuilleanain and her father is a crime novelist. Picture: Nick Bradshaw

LOTS of authors say they knew from childhood they wanted to be a writer but few have proof as convincing as Léan Cullinan has. “I remember writing a story for the new baby before my sister was born. I think I was five,” she recalls of her first major literary venture 34 years ago. “It was about my teddy bear. It didn’t have much of a storyline.”