Shadows of Our Past – BOOKED OUT Patrick Holloway, Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin and Kuba Shand-Baptiste in conversation with Tara McEvoy
Exploring themes including family, grief, memory, migration and belonging, join us for an evening around three captivating debut novels. Patrick Holloway’s The Language of Remembering (Époque Press) asks how we connect to the people we love, moving on from the past to find meaning in the present. In Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin’s Ordinary Saints (Bonnier Books) questions of faith, legacy, family and identity collide. Soon Come (John Murray Press) by Kuba Shand-Baptiste is a story of friendship, community, and finding a place in the world. Join the authors in conversation with writer Tara McEvoy.
This event is part of First Fridays at MoLI. Book tickets here.
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Patrick Holloway is an award-winning writer of fiction and poetry. He won the Bath Short Story Award, the Allingham Fiction Prize, The Molly Keane Fiction Prize, among others. His work appears in numerous publications including The Stinging Fly, The Moth, London Magazine, The Irish Times. His debut novel, The Language of Remembering, was published to critical acclaim: ‘This is modern Irish writing at its finest.’ The Irish Independent; ‘The Language of Remembering is a powerful, original family story from a wonderfully talented writer.’ The Irish Examiner; ‘Holloway is a true novelist and this is an utterly readable book of real depth.’ Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, The Irish Times.
© Julie Broadfoot
Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin was the winner of the inaugural PFD Queer Fiction Prize and was also shortlisted for the Women’s Prize Trust Discoveries Prize in 2022. Ordinary Saints is her debut literary novel and was shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2025.
© Robin Christian
Kuba Shand-Baptiste is an award-winning journalist whose work is interested in identity, human connection and social justice. Her writing examines motives with nuance and offers neglected perspectives. She draws on experiences growing up in North-West London as a British-Caribbean person. Kuba’s work – including essays, features and poetry – has been featured in numerous publications, earning widespread acclaim. She is an engaging public speaker who has participated in panel discussions, lectures, radio shows and podcasts.
Tara McEvoy is a PhD graduate of Queen’s University Belfast, and was subsequently a Ciaran Carson Writing and the City Fellow at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Creative Writing, and O’Donnell Fellow in Irish Studies at the University of Melbourne. She is currently based in London, where she works at Faber & Faber.
Buy The Language of Remembering