Martin Doyle, Books Editor of The Irish Times, has been an arts journalist for more than 35 years and in that time has interviewed many of the most talented and successful Irish writers at different stages of their careers.

This selection of his journalism offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of the Irish literary world as it has evolved in the past four decades. It provides booklovers with a privileged insight into the creative processes of many of their favourite writers, while serving as an appetiser for some of the greatest works of modern Irish fiction and nonfiction, both prizewinning titles and some overlooked gems which deserve to be rediscovered.

Writers interviewed include: Sally Rooney, Anne Enright, Claire Keegan, Roddy Doyle, Colm Tóibín, Claire Kilroy, Donal Ryan, Alice Taylor, Paul Murray.

'I'm not a great reader of writers' interviews. Writers so often lie when the truth's not intriguing enough. Martin Doyle, however, is a canny, immensely well-prepared, fastidious and intuitive interrogator. He extracts remarkable witness out of these remarkable Irish writers. Read one interview per night. It'll keep you awake.' Richard Ford

'A brilliantly illuminative journey into some piercing literary minds.' Books Ireland Magazine



Martin Doyle is a writer and journalist from County Down. He is the Books Editor of The Irish Times, and has worked for more than three decades as a journalist in Ireland and Britain. His memoir Dirty Linen was published in 2023.



I'm not a great reader of writers' interviews. Writers so often lie when the truth's not intriguing enough. Martin Doyle, however, is a canny, immensely well-prepared, fastidious and intuitive interrogator. He extracts remarkable witness out of these remarkable Irish writers. Read one interview per night. It'll keep you awake.



A brilliantly illuminative journey into some piercing literary minds.



Fascinating … There is skilled layering in Doyle's compositions ... Conversations with authors at key moments of publication over the past 35 years that continue to illuminate and engage.