He Used to Be Me

Meet xe2x80x98Daft Mattxe2x80x99, the Mayo man at the heart of this gorgeously written, form-bending tale. Matt, who has been told to get his head out of the clouds since he was a boy, has a hump the size of Nephin mountain from a lifetime of looking down.

We first meet him wandering the streets of Castlebar in search of xe2x80x98Devilxe2x80x99s feetxe2x80x99 xe2x80x93 the claw marks of the jackdaws who have spoken to him since he was a boy. He pretends not to hear the cruel remarks of those he passes, people who will never understand whatxe2x80x99s going on in his head because they donxe2x80x99t take the trouble to ask.

In extraordinary prose, Walsh Donnelly imagines the inner life of Daft Matt, from the loss of his twin brother as a child, through the halcyon days of early manhood, to the shocking aftermath of a horse-riding accident that would leave him in care for another 30 years.



ANNE WALSH DONNELLY is an LGBTQ+ writer. Originally from Carlow in the south-east of Ireland, she now lives in Mayo in the west of Ireland. She is the author of the poetic memoir, The Woman With An Owl Tattoo, and the poetry collection, Odd as F*ck. She has been shortlisted for the Fish International Prize and the Frances MacManus competitions for her fiction and for the Hennessy New Irish Writing Award and the International Poetry Book Awards for her poetry.



'This slim volume is a little gem, and if you liked Doireann ní Ghríofa's A Ghost in the Throat or, more similar to this narrative, Max Porter's Lanny then you'll drink this up.'



'The story is beautifully and imaginatively told, using language that is poetic and profound, yet is instantly accessible. It is deeply sad, but strangely life-affirming at the same time'



'An impressive debut, highly original, written in vivid, memorable prose.'



'Anne Walsh Donnelly writes from the heart. Words fall from her as they shape on the page, some moving to one side of an answer, some to the other, some a direct hit with a soft laugh … Donnelly has a way of seeing the world as if noticing it suddenly, in its true form.'



Some books sneak up on you, starting out as one thing before hitting you with emotions you didn't expect, and a power you didn't see coming. Anne Walsh Donnelly has written such a book ... In 116 spare, charged pages, ... [it] will break your heart. Walsh Donnelly is a relatively new voice in Irish fiction ... but her work has an assuredness of tone and a mature voice and in Daft Matt she has created a character that lingers. A profound and moving experience.