The Art of the Short Story Jan Carson and Mary Costello in conversation with Evelyn O'Rourke
The short story, by its nature, captures and explores brief but significant moments or events in its characters’ lives, and so continues to captivate readers far and wide. Jan Carson’s Quickly, While They Still Have Horses (Doubleday) is a sparkling collection of stories encompassing all of life, with suggestions of the other world that will surprise and delight. Mary Costello’s Barcelona (Canongate) is a captivating collection inhabited by characters who live turbulent inner lives, revealing the underlying disquiet of modern life and the sometimes brutal nature of humanity. Join the authors in conversation with broadcaster and journalist Evelyn O’Rourke about their new collections.
© Frankie Quinn
Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in Belfast. Her first novel, Malcolm Orange Disappears, was published in 2014 followed by a short-story collection, Children’s Children (2016), and two Postcard Stories anthologies. Her second novel, The Fire Starters (2019), won the EU Prize for Literature and was shortlisted for the Dalkey Novel of the Year Award. The Raptures (2022) was shortlisted for the An Post Novel of the Year and the Kerry Group Novel of the Year. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and on BBC Radio 3 and 4. She won the Harper’s Bazaar short-story competition and has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, the An Post Irish Short Story of the Year, and the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Prize. Jan’s writing has been widely translated. Her newest short story collection, Quickly, While They Still Have Horses was published in April. Jan is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
© Yamila
Mary Costello is the award-winning author of two novels and two collections of short stories. Her latest, Barcelona, is published by Canongate.
Evelyn O’Rourke is the RTÉ Arts and Media Correspondent. She is an award winning journalist who has presented and reported on a number of RTÉ Radio and Television programmes including co-hosting The An Post Irish Book Awards for RTÉ One tv for many years.