Books are my Business: Ruth McKee, editor of Books Ireland magazine

Ruth McKee is editor of Books Ireland magazine. She is originally from Co Antrim and lives in Skerries, Co Dublin.

Ruth McKee is editor of Books Ireland magazine. Picture: www.sandsphotography.eu

How did you become the editor of Books Ireland?

I have worked in a lot of different areas through the years — reviewing, editing, working for a publisher, and I’m a writer as well.

I saw there was an opening, it just felt like it was made for me, it was like I had written my own job spec. I saw all the areas that I would need to work in and it just spoke to all the different aspects of who I am, as well as what I do. So I just jumped on it.

Can you tell me more about Books Ireland?

It began in 1976 and we transitioned to fully digital around 2020.

That has opened up things up, it has really given us a new audience. It means we can do all sorts of things online that we couldn’t do in print. We have a database called First Flush, which tells you what new books are coming out every month. So publishers, booksellers, and libraries would be very keen to check that source every month.

We have bestseller lists, and we have our pieces on craft, on writing. We have all sorts of writers engaged with us, from big hitters to self-published writers to poets, it has something for everybody.

What does your role involve?

We work with booksellers, publishers, authors, literary organisations, publishing professionals, the whole array really of the book world.

My job is quite varied. No day is the same. I commission reviews and features, we publish trade news, industry news. We have lots of other projects like the Burning Books podcast where I get to talk to writers about their craft. We have also been working on an Irish Writers Handbook which is out soon.

The Irish literature scene appears to be thriving. Is that reflected in what you see?

Absolutely. It is just full of passionate, creative, smart and innovative human beings. Throw a stone and you hit a poet. It’s a great industry to work in.

What do you like most about your job?

Probably the thing I like most is that no day is the same, there is always something new on the horizon — meeting writers, meeting creative people, and seeing what’s coming next. The podcast is probably one of the highlights too, where I get to meet my heroes.

Also, seeing what’s going to be published, you just feel like you’re getting a little glimpse behind the curtain all the time.

I love the editing side of it, I love working with text and I love the team I work with. I’m very happy in this role, I feel like it was the universe saying “this is where you’re supposed to be right now”.

What do you like least about it?

There genuinely isn’t anything I dislike about my job. If there was something it’s probably that there just isn’t enough time and space to cover everything. I’d love to feature every book and every author.

I’d love to review everything that is sent in, but we just can’t.

What three books would you take to a desert island?

I’d probably go for poetry because you can go back to a poem — you’re never the same person reading that poem the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth time.

You can read them eternally. I am not going to pick particular collections but the three poets I would probably bring with me would be anything by Louise Glück, Mary Oliver, and Ada Limón. I would just take those three wonderful women with me and that would give me some solace and some nourishment.

They probe the darkness but there is always some light.

• The Irish Writers Handbook will be published in November, and will be available online at booksirelandmagazine.com and in bookshops.