Beginner’s pluck: Charity administrator Caragh Maxwell

 'I loved 'Sugartown' for its rawness, its assured writing, and its empathetic characters. Caragh Maxwell is a writer to watch'

Caragh Maxwell has been published in 'The Irish Times', and 'The Cormorant', among other publications.

Caragh was reading the RTÉ Guide aged two-and-a-half.

“I was a voracious reader and a big storyteller,” she says. “I wasn’t sporty, and I got my first medal in primary school for a ‘write a book’ competition.”

When she was due to start an arts degree at Maynooth University, Caragh contracted cancer.

She took a year out and then dropped out: “I wasn’t able for it. I didn’t really know what to do. Then my friends said, ‘You like to write. Why don’t you pursue that?’.”

I moved to Sligo, got the degree, and I haven’t stopped.

Meanwhile, Caragh was working freelance, writing online — mainly product descriptions, as well as writing essays poems and stories. 

She has been published in The Irish Times, and The Cormorant, among other publications.

She wrote Sugartown in 2023, mostly during her M Phil — and sold it through her agent, Peter Straus during 2024.

Who is Caragh Maxwell?

Date/place of birth: 1994/ Mullingar.

Education: St Finian’s College in Mullingar; University of Sligo, writing andliterature: Trinity College Dublin, M Phil in creative writing.

Home: Sligo town.

Family: Fiancée Keith, “We’ve been together for 11 years”. Two younger brothers, aged 25, and 21: “They’re the light of my life.”

The day job: “Since my MA, I’ve been working in admin for a charity in Sligo town.”

In another life: “I’d be an actress. I was a very dramatic child. If my mum had put me in Billy Barry Stage School, we would not be having this conversation today.”

Second book: “I’m getting my bearings for a second novel and planning a PhD for September 2026.”

Top tip: “Just sit down and do it.”

Instagram: @caraghmaxwell.

The debut

Sugartown

One World, €15.99

Having dropped out of college and split from her boyfriend, Saoirse reluctantly returns home to the Midlands. Feeling lost — fighting with her mum — she turns to drink, drugs, and a new relationship, convincing everyone she is fine. 

But perhaps it’s time to confront her demons, and make peace with those around her, and with herself.

The verdict: I loved this novel for its rawness, its assured writing, and its empathetic characters. Caragh Maxwell is a writer to watch.