STARTING life in Balbriggan, Frankie moved to inner-city Dublin at 12. He mitched from school, and in his early 20s, working in nightclubs, saw Dublin’s underside.

Publisher turned author Thomas Morris talks to Tony Clayton-Lea about the joy and challenges of becoming a writer — and sibling rivalry as a wonderful motivating force.

IN Sifting, Mike Mac Domhnaill’s striking first short story collection, the present is tattooed with the scars and marks of the past. 

Author Joe Joyce speaks to Declan Burke about his latest offering, a tale set in Dublin in 1940 — a time of intrigue, betrayal and espionage

Richard Fitzpatrick rounds up his top tomes of the year

Dead Dogs

A book by the former partner of late broadcaster Gerry Ryan is back on the shelves today after a High Court action temporarily preventing its distribution was settled.

The sale of a book written by the late Gerry Ryan’s girlfriend has been dramatically stopped by the courts.

The publishers of an autobiography by the late Gerry Ryan's partner have agreed to stop the book going on sale for at least two weeks.

Joe Murphy

FIRST-TIME novelist Paul Soye started out in social work. First he was a volunteer, then he had paid jobs, and, after a stint in France, he got a qualification. But he’s no stranger to writing. The 59-year-old is the prize-winning playwright of Cherished, and The Birdcage. But a novel seemed a step too far.

IRELAND has more than 6,000 lakes and, according to author John Dunne, we don’t appreciate them. They are, he thinks, a neglected part of our heritage.

The faster pace of life in modern Ireland could be straining people’s mental health, it was warned today.