Dublin City Libraries Readers’ Day Sebastian Barry, Patrick Freyne, Kathleen MacMahon, Katriona O’Sullivan and Ben Reeves

In Partnership with Dublin UNESCO City of Literature

Join us for a lively and engaging afternoon of book chat with an exciting line-up of contemporary authors. Sebastian Barry’s The Newer World (Faber & Faber) is an immersive and unforgettable novel of one man’s life in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Sebastian joins critic, journalist and broadcaster Alex Clark in conversation. Patrick Freyne’s Experts in a Dying Field (Sandycove) is a sharp and witty novel about friendship, secrets, grief, guilt, and the joyful alchemy of music. Kathleen MacMahon‘s Other People’s Lives (Sandycove) is a brilliantly observed story of marriage, friendship, loyalty, regret and midlife choices. Ben Reeves‘ Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt (Simon & Schuster) is a deeply affecting and original novel about life, and the role of death in the world. The authors join journalist and author Aoife Barry in conversation. Hungry (Hachette Ireland), the powerful new memoir from Katriona O’Sullivan, is a raw, courageous exploration of survival, identity and the lifelong search for self-acceptance. Katriona joins broadcaster Miriam O’Callaghan in conversation.

Please note. Bookings for this event will open on Monday, 5th October 2026.

© Hannah Cunningham

Sebastian Barry was born in Dublin in 1955. The 2018–21 Laureate for Irish Fiction, his novels have twice won the Costa Book of the Year Award, the Independent Booksellers Award and the Walter Scott Prize. He had two consecutive novels shortlisted for the Booker Prize, A Long Long Way (2005) and the top ten bestseller The Secret Scripture (2008), and he has also won the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award, the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He lives in County Wicklow.

Patrick Freyne spent most of his twenties trying to be a rock star beforeturning to the much more stable and secure world of journalism. He is a featureswriter at the Irish Times. His first book, OK, Let’s Do Your Stupid Idea waslonglisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize in 2021.

Kathleen MacMahon is an author, journalist and broadcaster. Her novels have been listed for the Irish Book Awards, the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year and the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her short stories have been published in the Stinging Fly, The Winter Papers and the Dublin Review, among others. Her latest novel, Other People’s Lives, was published in May 2026 by Penguin Sandycove to widespread critical acclaim.

Dr Katriona O’Sullivan is a professor of psychology and the bestselling author of Poor, winner of Biography of the Year and Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. The memoir has been translated into seven languages, adapted into a sold-out play at Dublin’s Gate Theatre, and remained in Ireland’s top-ten nonfiction chart for two years. A regular commentator on the BBC and across Irish and international media, she has spoken at Westminster, the UN and UNESCO. Born in Coventry to Irish parents, her early life was marked by poverty, addiction, teenage pregnancy and homelessness. In 1998, she moved to Dublin, where she entered Trinity College through the access programme and went on to earn a PhD in psychology. Now a professor at Maynooth University, she directs the National Centre for Inclusive Higher Education and leads the award-winning STEM Passport for Inclusion, which has supported over 10,000 young people from underserved communities into higher education and high-status careers.

Ben Reeves lives in Peterborough with his wife and two children, and he won the Bath Novel Award 2024 for this novel. When he’s not writing, he paints, makes music, and works as a web designer for a book printing company.

© Bríd O’Donovan

Aoife Barry is a writer, freelance arts journalist and weekly columnist for the Sunday Times. Her 2023 book on social media, Social Capital (HarperCollins Ireland) was nominated for an Irish Book Award. She has had bylines across various publications including the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, Tatler, The Journal and Irish Examiner. She features regularly on RTÉ Radio One and Today FM and her essays and fiction have been published by ROPES journal and Banshee, and broadcast on Sunday Miscellany. Alongside fellow journalist Lauren Murphy she co-presents the arts and culture podcast Get Around To It.

© Mark Vessey

Alex Clark is a critic, journalist and broadcaster. A co-host of Graham Norton’s Book Club and the Times Literary Supplement podcast, she is also a regular on BBC Radio 4 and writes on a wide range of subjects for the Guardian, the Observer and the Irish Times. She is a patron of the Cambridge Literary Festival, and has judged many literary awards, including the Booker prize. She is an experienced chair of live events, and lives in Kilkenny, Ireland.

© Evan Doherty

Miriam O’Callaghan has been a leading figure in Irish broadcast and current affairs for over 40 years. She has presented RTÉ’s Prime Time since 1996 and hosts the live radio show, Sunday with Miriam.

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