Author John Boyne has reinstalled the deadline for his children’s short story competition until 5pm today after initially calling a halt when he was deluged with 4,000 entries.

They tweeted to say his novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas "should be avoided by anyone who studies or teaches factual history of the Holocaust".

Irish students remain among the best readers in the developed world, an assessment of almost 600,000 students has found.

When you replace what you can’t say with what you have to say you have the same outcome — censorship, writes Richard Hogan

The annual Listowel Writer's Week, founded by the late John B Keane and Bryan McMahon which takes place each year over the June Bank holiday weekend opened last night for its 49th year.

In the article, the Irish author wrote: “I don’t consider myself a cis man; I consider myself a man.”

Five novels have been shortlisted for the 2019 Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year at Listowel Writers’ Week, with a shared prize fund of €19,000, one of the biggest in Ireland.

A book by Corkman Cethan Leahy about teenage mental health is one of ten titles shortlisted for a major Irish book award.

It’s not what you would call gripping TV. But it’s soothing. If it were made now, it would be called ‘Slow TV’, something which is apparently All The Rage In Norway.

It’s November, which means it’s National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo is the brainchild of Chris Baty, a freelance writer based in San Francisco. The project started in July 1999 with only 21 participants, before moving to November the following year to “take advantage of the miserable weather”.

It’s November, which means it’s National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo is the brainchild of Chris Baty, a freelance writer based in San Francisco. The project started in July 1999 with only 21 participants, before moving to November the following year to “take advantage of the miserable weather”.

Heterosexual and same-sex couples are treated equally by the law if their marriage fails. But do gay relationships have their own unique difficulties, asks Ellie O’Byrne

Author Deirdre Sullivan and illustrator Karen Vaughan have won the Children’s Book of the Year (CBI) Award with the fairytale Tangleweed and Brine.

Des O’Driscoll shares his suggestions for the week ahead

Marian Keyes, Roddy Doyle, and Cecelia Ahern have all been shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards.

After college in Dublin, Orlagh worked in the production department for various films, then she left for London and worked in the city in IT recruitment.

Growing up, there were no books at home. Only the Bible and The News of the World. We were poor and university was never mentioned as an option. I went to grammar school and enjoyed writing but didn’t enjoy reading. Being a writer was never on my list of things to do.

English crime writer Sophie Hannah tells Esther McCarthy why she decided to set the latest Hercule Poirot novel in Clonakilty

Beginning in Goleen, West Cork, in 1945, and continuing in seven-year intervals up to 2015, taking in Dublin City, Amsterdam, New York City, and Maribor, perhaps the biggest disappointment about John Boyne’s new novel is how predictable and plodding it is. 

Eoghan O’Sullivan has all your entertainment news for the week right here.

In his epic new tome that spans 70 years, John Boyne examines growing up gay in Ireland and the associated trials and tribulations. He talks to Sue Leonard

Sarah Crossan’s young adult tale of conjoined twins has won her a pile of praise and a slew of awards, writes Marjorie Brennan

INITIALLY one is tempted to view this novel with its story of a young boy and a Nazi theme as a regurgitation of Boyne’s successful The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

There was huge excitement yesterday as Ireland’s authors gathered at the Bord Gáis Theatre for the announcement of the shortlist for the Irish Book Awards 2015.

JOHN BOYNE has already proved that he’s a versatile writer. 

AT least with short stories, if one doesn’t wow you, there’s always hope the next one might.

The top 50 books for children to read have been released, and Roald Dahl remains at number one.

2014 has been a remarkable year for Irish writing by any standards.

There’s no short cut to writing a bestseller.

It was an itch that would not go away and in the end Mary Costello could not help becoming a writer, a very good one at that. She spoke to Sue Leonard about her debut novel has come garlanded with high praise.

The Arts Council has published the full list of nominees for the inaugural Laureate for Irish Fiction.

John Boyne

Reading (and being read to) helps your children understand the world around them, and eases them into school, says Mark Evans, and now one bookshop is helping with age-appropriate reading lists

You know you were born in a different era when you look at wallpaper and think not so much of feature walls but of schoolbooks.

Author and illustrator Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick has won a major award for her expertly crafted children’s novel Hagwitch.

More than three decades after winning her first Hennessy literary prize, writer Deirdre Madden has been inducted into the Hennessy Literary Awards Hall of Fame.

A mix of the old and the new are among the books, plays, and films that young teens can study for the first Junior Cycle Student Award in 2017.

Books that tackle difficult contemporary or global issues and books that are whimsical and funny are all competing for a major Irish award.

A writer with a first draft is like a sculptor with a block of stone: the story is inside.

It’s readers to the ready this month, as MS Ireland prepares to kick-start its annual Readathon.