Book interview: Eimear Ryan's debut novel takes a dip into hallowed halls of academia

The initial idea for holding her breath was sparked by the poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath

Eimear Ryan, sports columnist with the ‘Irish Examiner’ and writer in residence at University College Cork has published her first novel, ‘holding her breath’.

EIMEAR RYAN started writing her debut novel, holding her breath, back in 2013, shortly after finishing an M Phil in Creative Writing. As a highly successful short story writer, however, Eimear found the longer form harder to tame.

“I find novels tough,” she tells me, on Zoom from her home in Cork. “They are so big. With a short story you can hold the whole thing in your head, but a novel is such a sprawling beast. Planning it seemed like a huge challenge. The first draft took just over a year, but it’s gone through so many drafts and redrafts since then.”