Irish authors reading list

Reading lists

10 must-read books by Irish authors

Kellie

THE PHENOMENAL MEMOIR OF A NATIONAL TREASURE 
 
After Kellie Harrington won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, the Irish public recognized her as not merely a sporting hero, but a deeply inspirational human being. Now, Kellie tells the story of her unlikely journey to the top, and of the many obstacles and setbacks she overcame along the way. 
 
Growing up in Dublin's north inner city, Kellie was in danger of going down the wrong path in life before she discovered boxing. The local boxing club was all-male and initially wouldn't let her join, but she persisted. 
 
She was not an overnight success. For years she struggled in international competition. At times she felt unsupported by the national boxing set-up. More than once she considered giving up the sport. But some spark of ambition and love for boxing kept her going, and gradually she made herself world class. 
 
Writing with Roddy Doyle, the award-winning author of The Commitments, Kellie tells the story of her unlikely rise to greatness and her continuing dedication to living a normal life - which has involved remaining an amateur boxer and keeping the job she loves, at a Dublin psychiatric hospital. She shares exceptionally vivid and revealing details about being a woman in a historically male sport, and about how she manages her body and her mind. It is a vastly inspiring look inside the life and psychology of a woman who is both brilliantly ordinary and utterly exceptional.

Readers will be with her every step of the way . . . her voice is so radiant

Doyle has captured the full Kellie experience here, all heart and laughs and a mouth like a sailor

A terrific collaboration. Kellie Harrington's story is unique . . . Doyle coaxes her journey to Olympic gold out of her with warmth, wit and tenderness

By the end of this read, you know exactly how to feel about Kellie's life so far. Extraordinary. And the book leaves you in one position: in Kellie's corner

Perfectly capture[s] the story of a champion who couldn't be stopped from reaching her dreams

Olga Ravn

Roddy Doyle

Eliza Clark

Tom Crewe

Helen Oyeyemi

Five Frightening Tales from Five Essential Writers

From Edgar Allan Poe to Charles Dickens, from Shirley Jackson to Toni Morrison, the greatest writers have always been drawn to that ancient, mysterious thing: the haunting. 
 
A Ghostly Little Book is a slim, beautiful testament to the enduring appeal of the spook, a landmark collection of specially composed modern ghost stories from Roddy Doyle, Olga Ravn, Eliza Clark, Tom Crewe and Helen Oyeyemi, five of the most acclaimed and exciting authors at work today. 
 
With surprising scares and anguished apparitions, with chance encounters, spectral phones and vengeful spirits, these tales chart the many twists and turns the ghost story might take: strange, unsettling, heartwarming, hilarious and, of course, blood-chilling.

Books by Roddy Doyle

Articles featuring Roddy Doyle

10 must-read books by Irish authors

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