Dermot Bolger reverses plan to retire and sticks to his words

After 14 novels and 18 plays, at the age of 65 Dermot Bolger had written his last — until a short story took hold, and a collection, ‘Imperfect Beings’, followed, writes Sue Leonard

Dermot Bolger made his name as a writer in his 20s, but says his later novels are his best.

Last year, playwright and novelist Dermot Bolger decided it was time to retire. At 65, he’d been writing for half a century — his first story was published when he was 14 — and he wanted to enjoy what he calls the writer’s best accolade: The free travel pass.

“I was going to become an old codger, wandering around the golf course,” Bolger says when we meet in the Gresham Hotel.