Category: Literary Festival

Categories
Literary Festival

Spike Island Literary Festival 2026 Sunday

Sunday, 6 September

Price per ticket: € 27.95
Boat in: 12:30 p.m. | Return: 5 p.m.

Tainted Love

Gill Perdue, Mary Watson & Sam Blake with Amy Jordan

 

Listen in as three international bestsellers and masters of misdirection, Sam Blake, Mary Watson & Gill Perdue chat to Amy Jordan about what drives the kind of stories that live with their readers long after they’ve turned the last page.

Reading

Cormac Quinn

 

Join new debut crime writer Cormac Quinn in the punishment block for an intimate reading from his new book, Murder on Lough Derg.

From Fact to Fiction

Edel Coffey & Claire Coughlan with Michelle Dunne

 

Join journalists Edel Coffey and Claire Coughlan as they tell Michelle Dunne all about their transition from real life, to crime fiction and whether or not they ever bleed into one.

Gill Perdue

Gill Perdue is the author of bestselling novels If I Tell (nominated for Crime Novel of the Year in the Irish Book Awards 2022), When They See Me (2023) and in 2025 The Night I Killed Him, her third in the Shaw & Darmody series.

Her first standalone crime thriller All Of Them Lied publishes in June 2026 and has already been described by Liz Nugent as ‘the most compulsive reading experience I’ve had this year,’ and ‘unrelentingly tense,’ by Jane Casey.

Gill lives in Dublin with her hiking husband and rescue cat (aka last remaining pet), Dusty.

Mary Watson

Mary Watson is from South Africa and now lives on the west coast of Ireland. She has a PhD from the University of Cape Town, where she taught for many years.

She won the Caine Prize for African Writing for her adult publishing in South Africa, and in 2014 was named on the Africa39 list of writers under 40 with the potential to define trends in African literature.

Her YA novels have been nominated for the Irish Book Awards and the Carnegie medal. Her adult debut, The Cleaner, was a bestseller in Ireland, the UK and Canada.

Sam Blake

Sam Blake is a pseudonym for Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, the founder of Europe’s biggest writing resources website, the award winning writing.ie, the Writers Ink online writing group and Murder One, Ireland’s International Crime Writing Festival.

She is a multiple No 1 bestselling Irish crime writer and has been shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year four times, and twice for Irish Teen and YA Novel of the Year. Her second YA novel, Something’s About to Blow Up was Winner of the International Education Services Teen & YA Novel of the Year 2024. Her latest adult thriller is Your Every Move (January 2026). 15 Kill Lane is released January 2027.

Follow Sam on social @samblakebooks or find out more at www.samblakebooks.com, where you can join her Reader’s Club and receive her adult thriller High Pressure for free.

Amy Jordan

Amy Jordan is a crime writer from Cork. Writing as Amy Cronin, she published three books with Poolbeg Press, before moving to HQ, HarperCollins.

The Dark Hours, her international debut, was published in multiple territories, was reviewed by the New York Times, and was an instant Irish Times bestseller.

Amy’s next thriller, Lie Steal Kill, a follow-up to The Dark Hours, will be released in January 2027.

Keep up to date with Amy’s books at @amyjordanbooks on Instagram.

Cormac Quinn

Based in Dublin, Cormac Quinn is a debut author with a passion for the murder mystery genre.

At much too young an age, he started reading detective novels and has yet to stop.

In a previous life, he was a journalist and news editor in Asia.

 

Edel Coffey


Edel Coffey is an Irish author and journalist.

She has published three number-one bestselling novels.

Her debut novel, Breaking Point, won the An Post Irish Book Award for Crime Novel of the Year.

She is a regular contributor to The Irish Times and RTE Radio One.

 

Claire Coughlan

Claire Coughlan worked as a journalist before starting to write fiction.

She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UCD and is the author of two crime novels, Where They Lie and Among the Ruins, both published by Simon & Schuster UK.

Where They Lie was nominated for the Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year at the 2024 An Post Irish Book Awards. In the same year, Claire was selected by the An Post Irish Book Awards as part of its New Voices: Best New Irish Writers list.

She can be found on Instagram @claireelizabethco

 

Michelle Dunne
Michelle Dunne is the best selling author of 8 psychological thrillers, including international bestseller The Good Girl, voted one of the top ten books to be published in the Czech Republic in 2025, and her new release, Burning Secrets.

Michelle is the organiser and programmer of the Spike Island Literary Festival – a crime-themed festival set in Ireland’s very own Alcatraz. She is also festival manager at Dublin’s international crime writing festival, Murder One.

 

Categories
Literary Festival

Spike Island Literary Festival 2026 Saturday

Saturday, 5 September

Price per ticket: € 27.95
Boat in: 12:30 p.m. | Return: 5 p.m.

Luca Veste & Stuart Neville in Conversation

Luca Veste with Stuart Neville

 

Join us for some unique insight into the worlds of two of the darkest minds in crime fiction, knowing that this conversation will leave you well and truly entertained.

Reading

R.O. Thorpe

 

Head to the abandoned cells to see if Australian born author R.O. Thorp can hook you with her new mystery, Marked for Death.

From Page to Screen

Andrea Mara & Catherine Ryan Howard with PJ Coogan

 

Meet the Irish murderesses behind some of the most binge-worthy TV shows of the decade, as they tell us what it was like to see their ideas journey from their mind, onto the page and all the way to Hollywood.

PJ Coogan is live from the red carpet!

Luca Veste

Luca Veste is the internationally bestselling author of Italian and Liverpudlian heritage.

His books includes The Bone Keeper and the Murphy & Rossi series. He is the bass player in the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers band, co-host of the hit podcast Two Crime Writers and a Microphone, and the co-founder of the Locked Up Festival, which raised over £25,000 for the Trussell Trust charity.

He studied psychology and criminology at the University of Liverpool, and lives on Merseyside with his wife and two daughters. His new book Liar Liar came out in June to enormous praise.

 

Stuart Neville

Stuart Neville’s debut novel, THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST (published in the UK as THE TWELVE), won the Mystery/Thriller category of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was picked as one of the top crime novels of 2009 by both the New York Times and the LA Times.

He has been shortlisted for various awards, including the MWA Edgar, CWA Dagger, Theakstons Old Peculier Novel of the Year, Barry, Macavity, Dilys awards, as well as the Irish Book Awards Crime Novel of the Year.

He has since published eleven more critically acclaimed novels, two of which were under the pen name Haylen Beck, and a short story collection.

R.O. Thorpe

R.O. Thorpe is an Australian living in Cork, Ireland, where she writes lyrics and herds cats.

She was one of the Observer’s top 10 debut novelists of 2021, and her writing has won the London Short Story Award and been shortlisted for the BBC Opening Lines Prize.

Death on Ice (2025) was her first foray into murder mysteries.

Andrea Mara

Andrea Mara is a number one Sunday Times, Irish Times and Kindle bestselling author, whose books have sold more than one million copies across all formats.

The TV adaptation of her 2021 book, All Her Fault, aired in November 2025 to huge critical and audience acclaim, with Sarah Snook (Succession) playing the lead.

Her latest book, Such A Nice Girl, was an Irish Times number one bestseller and a UK Sunday Times top ten bestseller.

Her 2025 novel, It Should Have Been You, won Irish Crime Novel of the Year at the 2025 An Post Book Awards. Her book No One Saw a Thing was a Sunday Times number one bestseller and has sold over half million copies.

Andrea lives in Dublin with her husband and three children.

You can find Andrea on Instagram @andreamaraauthor

Catherine Ryan Howard

Catherine Ryan Howard is the award-winning, no.1 bestselling author of The Trap, The Nothing Man and Burn After Reading. 

A limited series based on her ‘lockdown’ thriller, 56 Days, is now streaming worldwide on Prime Video.

Her latest novel is Buyer Beware. She lives in Dublin.

 

PJ Coogan

After over 30 years on radio in Cork as a journalist, presenter and analyst, PJ’s voice is instantly familiar across the City & County.

He is the award-winning presenter of the Opinion Line on Cork’s 96FM.

 

 

Categories
Literary Festival

Spike Island Literary Festival 2026 Friday

Friday, 4 September

Price per ticket: € 50
Boat in: 12 p.m. | Return: 4:30 p.m.

Commit Yourself to Crime

Gill Perdue

 

Are you keen to write a crime novel?
Or perhaps you’ve already started your gripping thriller and are wondering how to bring it home in a suitably twisty manner.

Come along to a crime writing workshop with bestselling Penguin author Gill Perdue.
Gill will be exploring the various aspects of writing a successful crime novel, from plot and pacing to character development and voice.

A fun and lively session is planned after which you’ll definitely commit to crime!

From Manuscript to Market: Meet the publishers

with Mercier Press

 

Ireland’s oldest independent publishers, Mercier Press will be on-hand with their unique insight into exactly what the publishing industry is looking for, and what it’s not.

This masterclass gives invaluable insight into how to perfect your pitch as well as a thorough understanding of how the industry works.

In a relaxed and informal environment, there’ll be lots of opportunities to ask those tricky questions!

Gill Perdue

Gill Perdue is the author of bestselling novels If I Tell (nominated for Crime Novel of the Year in the Irish Book Awards 2022), When They See Me (2023) and in 2025 The Night I Killed Him, her third in the Shaw & Darmody series.

Her first standalone crime thriller All Of Them Lied publishes in June 2026 and has already been described by Liz Nugent as ‘the most compulsive reading experience I’ve had this year,’ and ‘unrelentingly tense,’ by Jane Casey.

Gill lives in Dublin with her hiking husband and rescue cat (aka last remaining pet), Dusty.

 

Categories
Literary Festival Uncategorized

Spike Island Literary Festival 2026 Buried Truths

Friday, 4th September

Price per ticket: € 27.95
Boat in: 5 p.m. | Return: 8 p.m.

Buried Truths

Michelle McDonagh & Fiona Gartland with Kitty Murphy

 

Join bestselling authors Michelle McDonagh and Fiona Gartland as they let us in on some of their plotting secrets.

With fellow crime-writer Kitty Murphy at the helm, no stone will be left unturned.

Michelle McDonagh

Michelle McDonagh is the author of four bestselling rural noir novels.

Her debut There’s Something I Have To Tell You was published in 2023, and her second bestseller Somebody Knows was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2024. Her latest book If These Walls Could Talk was published in July 2025.

A journalist by trade, Michelle co-hosts books podcast Natter with Kate and Michelle with her friend and fellow writer Kate Durrant.

 

Fiona Gartland

Fiona Gartland is a crime writer and journalist from Dublin.

Her latest psychological suspense novel, Under Her Care, was published in April by Bloodhound Books. The first part of her Angie and Violet cosy crime trilogy is due for release in January 2027. Her short stories have featured on RTÉ radio and in magazines, including The Stinging Fly.

With The Irish Times for seventeen years, she focused on courts coverage, going on to work as assistant news editor and features section editor. She is married with four adult children and enjoys long walks, great reads, interviewing writers, and singing for fun. Find her at fionagartland.com and @gartlandbooks.

Kitty Murphy

Kitty Murphy lives on the very westerly edge of the Burren, surrounded by cows.

As Kitty, she writes murder mysteries set in a fictional Dublin drag scene – Death in Heels and Death in the Dark published by Thomas & Mercer, followed by Death in the Holidays and Death in Love. She’s Catherine Murphy for reviews, lifestyle pieces, interviews and journalism, and C Murphy for short stories and poems, published in Ireland, the USA and the UK. As C L Murphy she leans into the dark side…

Find her @kitty_Murphy_Writes on Instagram.

 

Categories
Literary Festival

Spike Island Literary Festival 2026

Now in its fifth year, the Spike Island Literary Festival returns this September with a gripping programme dedicated to the art of crime writing.
Set against the unique backdrop of Spike Island’s infamous former prison, this one-of-a-kind festival brings together world-renowned authors and literary experts for a series of thrilling conversations, live readings and thought-provoking panels.

With a dark history of four prisons over 400 years, Spike Island is the perfect setting for literary enthusiasts from book lovers to budding writers.
Engage with your favourite authors and discover what inspires them through author-led panel discussions, experience readings from world-class writers as they recite their most famous works in unique locations or take the first steps to getting your own work published by meeting with a renowned literary agent.

Step inside the walls that once held some of Ireland’s most notorious criminals and immerse yourself in stories that intrigue, unnerve and captivate.
Whether you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, gritty detective fiction, or chilling true crime, Spike Island is the ultimate setting for your next plot twist.

This year’s programme features a stellar line-up of renowned authors such as Mark Billingham, Andrea Mara, Stuart Neville, Catherine Ryan Howard and more.

Join us at the Spike Island Literary Festival this September — where mystery, suspense, and storytelling collide.

 

Categories
Event Literary Festival

Spike Island Literary Festival 2025 Unsettled States

Friday, 5th September

Price per ticket: €27.95
Boat in: 5pm | Return: 8pm

Unsettled States

Tom Casey with PJ Coogan

 

The 2025 Spike Island Literary Festival opens with a gripping conversation between acclaimed author Tom Casey and Cork’s own PJ Coogan of 96FM.

Travelling from New York especially for the festival, Casey delves into the dark heart of international crime fiction with Unsettled States—his bold third novel exploring voyeurism, infidelity, murder, and moral decay. With a sharp eye for social commentary and unexpected flashes of humour, Casey draws on a lifetime of global experience as a former airline pilot and documentary co-producer to craft stories that are as thrilling as they are thought-provoking.

Described by Kurt Andersen as “as thoughtful and thought-provoking as it is fun,” Unsettled States promises to be the centre of a compelling discussion to open this year’s festival.

 

Tom Casey

Tom Casey’s unconventional exploration of voyeurism, infidelity, murder, and spiritual corruption is shot through with flashes of social commentary and humour.

Tom spent decades traversing the world as a professional airline pilot. In addition to flying passenger jets and writing fiction, he also co-produced a recent film documentary ‘Flying Boat’. Casey lives in Connecticut with his partner, Silvia Erskine, and Phoebe, their rescue dog. ‘Unsettled States‘ is his third novel.

“Unsettled States is as thoughtful and thought-provoking as it is fun.”— Kurt Andersen, author of Heyday

PJ Coogan

After over 30 years on radio in Cork as a journalist, presenter and analyst, PJ’s voice is instantly familiar across the City & County.
Since 2014 he has been the presenter of the successful “Opinion Line” show on Cork’s 96FM.

Categories
Event Literary Festival

Spike Island Literary Festival 2025 Sunday

Sunday, 7th September

Price per ticket: €27.95
Boat in: 12.30pm | Return: 5pm

Meet the Detectives

Patricia Gibney & Gill Perdue with Michelle Dunne

Join two of Ireland’s bestselling crime fiction authors, Patricia Gibney and Gill Perdue, in conversation with fellow author and festival curator Michelle Dunne for an unmissable discussion on mystery, suspense, and intrigue.

As part of the Spike Island Literary Festival, this gripping event delves into the minds behind some of the country’s most compelling crime fiction.

Expect lively discussion, behind-the-scenes insights into crafting crime fiction, and a chance to ask your own burning questions. Perfect for fans of twisty plots, gritty characters, and page-turning drama.

Pop-Up Reading

Michelle Teahan

Secrets and Lies

Amanda Cassidy, Michelle McDonagh with Fiona Gartland

Dive into the dark, twisting worlds of contemporary crime fiction with three gripping voices at Spike Island Literary Festival.

Amanda Cassidy and Michelle McDonagh explore the hidden truths, tangled secrets, and the lies that define their characters.

Join this compelling conversation to uncover how deception drives narrative tension and reveals the human condition in thrilling, unforgettable ways.

 

Amanda Cassidy

Amanda Cassidy is an Irish Times bestselling author, commissioning editor and former Sky News reporter.

Her debut novel, Breaking, was shortlisted for the 2023 CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award, while her second novel, The Returned received widespread critical praise. The Perfect Place, Amanda’s third novel, published last year and was an instant Irish Times bestseller. She is a frequent contributor to national radio, print, and television, and holds a BA in European Studies from Trinity College Dublin.

When she’s not on a plane, you’ll find her in her cottage in Dublin where she lives with her family. The Stranger Inside, Amanda’s latest novel, will be published in August 2025.

Michelle Dunne

Michelle Dunne is a bestselling psychological thriller writer from Cork whose new thriller, A GOOD MOTHER, came out to rave reviews in April 25.

Michelle also wrote The Hotel Maid and The Good Girl, which saw its Czech language edition chosen as one of the 12 most exciting books to publish in Czech Republic in 2025. It launched in March at the annual Big Book Thursday event in Prague.

Michelle also wrote the Lindsey Ryan series of psychological thrillers, While Nobody is Watching and The Invisible. The series is currently in development for television and is inspired by Michelle’s own experiences as an infantry soldier and United Nations Peacekeeper.

Michelle is organiser and programmer of the Spike Island Literary Festival – a crime-themed festival set in Ireland’s very own Alcatraz. In 2024 she also joined the team at Dublin’s international crime writing festival, Murder One.

Fiona Gartland

Fiona Gartland is a crime writer and journalist from Dublin. Her latest psychological suspense novel, Under Her Care, is due for publication in April 2026 with Bloodhound Books.

She’s had a trilogy of thrillers published by Poolbeg, and has had short stories broadcast on RTÉ Radio and published in magazines, including literary quarterly, The Stinging Fly.

She worked for The Irish Times for 17 years where she focused on family law and crime court coverage, going on to become assistant news editor and then features section editor with the publication. She is married, with four grown-up children, enjoys long walks, great reads, and singing for fun.

Patricia Gibney

Patricia Gibney is a crime fiction author from Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, Ireland.

Her debut novel, The Missing Ones, was published by London based digital publisher, Bookouture, in March 2017.

To date fifteen Detective Lottie Parker books have been published in the series. More than 2.5 million Lottie Parker books have sold to date and has been translated into multiple languages.

Michelle McDonagh

Michelle McDonagh is the author of three rural noir novels. Her bestselling debut There’s Something I Have To Tell You was published in 2023, and her second bestseller Somebody Knows was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2024. Her third book Some of This Is True was published in June 2025.

A journalist by trade and a native of Galway, Michelle now lives in Blarney, where she is married with three children and a very cute cavapoo.

Gill Perdue

Gill Perdue is the author of bestselling crime novel If I Tell which was nominated for Crime Novel of the Year in the An Post Book Awards 2022. If I Tell is the first in the Shaw and Darmody series of crime thrillers published by Penguin, set in the fictional Dublin suburb of Clonchapel, followed by, When They See Me.

Her hotly-anticipated third novel, The Night I Killed Him, came out in July 2025 with Marian Keys declaring it: ‘utterly UTTERLY magnificent!’

Gill lives in Rathfarnham with two rescue cats, one of which walks over her laptop when she’s working, and a mostly genial husband who makes good coffee.

Michelle Teahan

Michelle’s debut novel GO SEEK was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood/John Creasey Dagger and is under option to a top tier US producer and studio.

Her follow up novel KNOCK KNOCK was published in June 2024. Michelle is a qualified Medical Scientist but her passion has always been writing stories. She uses her writing to turn her greatest fears into fiction and creating female characters who are equipped to deal with them.

She lives in County Cork, Ireland with her husband, two young daughters and a giant ginger cat.

Categories
Event Literary Festival

Spike Island Literary Festival 2025 Saturday

Saturday, 6th September

Price per ticket: €27.95
Boat in: 12.30pm | Return: 5pm

In Cold Blood

Nadine Matheson and Amy Jordan with Edel Coffey

Join three masters of crime fiction — Nadine Matheson, Amy Jordan, and Stuart Neville — for a gripping exploration of murder, morality, and the minds behind the mayhem.

In conversation with journalist and author Edel Coffey, this panel delves into the dark heart of crime writing: what draws us to the genre, how real-world violence influences fiction, and why we can’t look away.

Expect insight, intrigue, and a few chills as these acclaimed writers discuss the art of crafting compelling thrillers that hold up a mirror to society’s most unsettling truths.

Pop-up reading

Cónal Creedon

Close to Home

Andrea Mara, Michelle Dunne & C.L. Taylor with Sam Blake

Join bestselling crime writers Andrea Mara, Michelle Dunne, and C.L. Taylor for an unmissable conversation exploring the darkness that lurks just beneath the surface of everyday life.

From domestic suspense to psychological thrillers, these acclaimed authors delve into the secrets, fears, and tensions that unfold close to home.

Chaired by fellow author Sam Blake, this gripping panel will uncover how ordinary settings can become the backdrop for extraordinary crimes—and why the most chilling stories are often the ones that hit closest to home.

Expect thrilling insights and a behind the scenes look at building suspense.

Sam Blake

Sam Blake is a multiple No 1 bestselling Irish crime writer and has been shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year three times, and twice for Irish Teen and YA Novel of the Year.

Her second YA novel, Something’s About to Blow Up was Winner of the International Education Services Teen & YA Novel of the Year 2024. Her latest adult thriller, The Killing Sense, came out in January 2025 and is a No 1 bestseller.

Follow Sam on social @samblakebooks or find out more at www.samblakebooks.com, where you can join her Reader’s Club and receive her adult thriller High Pressure for free. Sam is the founder of Ireland’s International Crime Writing Festival, Murder One.

She is currently Chair of the board of the Society of Authors, and previously was Chair of Irish PEN and a board member of the Crime Writers Association.

Edel Coffey

Edel Coffey is an Irish novelist and journalist.

She has worked as an editor with the Irish Independent, and as a reporter and presenter with RTE Radio. She is a regular contributor to The Irish Times, and Books Editor with The Gloss magazine.
Both of her novels have been number one bestsellers in Ireland and her debut novel Breaking Point won the An Post Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction Book Of The Year in 2022. Her third novel will be published next year.

Cónal Creedon

Cónal Creedon is an award winning novelist, playwright and documentary filmmaker.
Cónal’s recently published book, Art Imitating Life Imitating Death, was presented at the centre of Irish Studies at Zurich University, James Joyce Federation in 2020. It was subsequently published by Florence University Press. His collection of Award winning short stories Pancho and Lefty Ride Again (2021) has been Awarded One City One Book Award 2020. It holds the record of being the most borrowed adult fiction book at Cork City Libraries 2022.
His novel, Begotten Not Made (2018), has achieved literary award recognition: Winner of the Eric Hoffer Award USA 2020, The Bronze Award New Generation Book Award USA 2020; Finalist in the Montaigne [Most Thought-Provoking Book] Award USA 2020. Finalist The IAN Book of the Year Award 2022, Nominated for the Dublin International Book Award 2020; Book of the Year Irish Examiner; Top Books of the Year – Liveline RTÉ Irish National Radio.

Michelle Dunne

Michelle Dunne is a bestselling psychological thriller writer from Cork whose new thriller, A GOOD MOTHER, came out to rave reviews in April 25.

Michelle also wrote The Hotel Maid and The Good Girl, which saw its Czech language edition chosen as one of the 12 most exciting books to publish in Czech Republic in 2025. It launched in March at the annual Big Book Thursday event in Prague.

Michelle also wrote the Lindsey Ryan series of psychological thrillers, While Nobody is Watching and The Invisible. The series is currently in development for television and is inspired by Michelle’s own experiences as an infantry soldier and United Nations Peacekeeper.

Michelle is organiser and programmer of the Spike Island Literary Festival – a crime-themed festival set in Ireland’s very own Alcatraz. In 2024 she also joined the team at Dublin’s international crime writing festival, Murder One.

Amy Jordan

Amy Jordan lives with her husband and young children in Cork, Ireland. The Dark Hours is her international debut with HQ Stories, HarperCollins. It was also released in North America and Canada with Mira Books, and reviewed by The New York Times, who said “Jordan…writes Julia with particular fire, bringing us a woman who has chosen invisibility but who cannot escape what once made her visible.” Soon to be published in Germany with Piper Verlag, The Dark Hours was an instant Irish Times bestseller.

Previously writing as Amy Cronin, she released three crime thrillers with Irish publisher Poolbeg Press. Amy is a former civil servant and tutor at MTU, who now writes full time.

Andrea Mara

Andrea Mara is a number one Sunday Times, Irish Times and Kindle bestselling author, whose books have sold more than 750,000 copies across all formats.

Her most recent novel, Someone in the Attic, was a Sunday Times, Irish Times and Kindle bestseller. Her previous book, No One Saw a Thing, was a Sunday Times number one bestseller. She has been shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year for five of her books.

The TV adaptation of her 2021 book, All Her Fault, is in production, with Sarah Snook (Succession) playing the lead. Andrea lives in Dublin with her husband and three children.

Nadine Matheson

Nadine Matheson was born and raised in Deptford and now practises as a criminal defence lawyer. She won the City University Crime Writing competition, and she has an MA in Creative Writing.

The Jigsaw Man was her first crime novel and was loved by readers around the world. It was shortlisted for the Dead Good Reader and the Adult Diverse Book Awards in 2022 and it has been translated into fifteen languages.

Nadine is also the host of the podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson.

C.L. Taylor

C.L. Taylor is an award winning Sunday Times bestselling author of ten gripping psychological thrillers including EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE, a Richard and Judy Book Club pick for autumn 2024, THE GUILTY COUPLE, (Richard and Judy Book Club 2023) and SLEEP (Richard and Judy Book Club 2019).

Her books have sold over two million copies in the UK alone, hit number one on Amazon Kindle, Audible, Kobo, iBooks and Google Play, and have been translated into over 30 languages and optioned for TV.

Categories
Event Literary Festival

Spike Island Literary Festival 2025 Friday

Friday, 5th September

12 am – 4:30 pm
Price per ticket: €49.95
Boat in: 12 pm | Return: 4:30 pm

Fiction-writing Masterclass

with Louise Phillips

Join bestselling author and award-winning crime novelist Louise Phillips for an exclusive Fiction Writing Masterclass at the Spike Island Literary Festival.

Whether you’re a budding writer or polishing your manuscript, this session offers invaluable insight into the craft of compelling storytelling. Drawing on her expertise in character development, plot structure, and building suspense, Louise will guide participants through practical exercises and provide feedback to help elevate your writing.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn from one of Ireland’s leading voices in fiction, set against the atmospheric backdrop of Ireland’s infamous prison island.

Pitch the Agent

with Diana Beaumont & Nicky Lovick

Getting the all important pitch right is essential when it comes to getting your work noticed in the competitive world of publishing. Your cover letter essentially needs to be your “elevator pitch” and can lead an agent to decide whether yours is an idea they want to read more about.

This is your opportunity to hear feedback from leaders in the industry, Diana Beaumont of DHH literary agency & Nicky Lovick with WGM Atlantic and also to learn from those around you. 

You will be required to bring a printed copy of your pitch which should be no more than 150 words. This will be read out anonymously (if preferred) during the event.

 

Diana Beaumont

Diana joined DHH Literary Agency in 2024.  She started agenting with Rupert Heath Literary Agency in 2011 before moving to UTA. Before that she was senior commissioning editor at Transworld.

​Diana was chosen as one of The Bookseller’s Rising Stars of 2012, was a nominee for RNA Agent of the Year 2019, and was shortlisted for Literary Agent of the Year 2022 at the British Book Awards.

Her list includes a wide range of bestselling and prize-winning authors in the UK and internationally.

Nicky Lovick

Nicky has worked as an editor in-house for big and small publishers for almost a decade and has freelanced continuously for twenty years.

Currently working for Penguin, Random House, transworld, BBC Books, Orion, John Blake, Blink, Bonnier, Quercus, Profile and Atlantic, among many others. Literary agent at WGM Atlantic.

Louise Phillips

Dublin born crime author LOUISE PHILLIPS is an Irish Times bestselling author of six crime novels, five of which were shortlisted for Best Irish Crime Novel of the Year in the Irish Book Awards.

Her second novel ‘The Doll’s House’ won the award. She has also been longlisted for the Crime Writers Association (CWA) Dagger in the Library Award in the U.K., and is the recipient of several literary awards, arts bursaries, and residencies.

Her fifth novel, ‘The Hiding Game’, was optioned by a major U.S. film company, and her latest novel, NINA, will be published in the US & Canada in November 2025.

 

Categories
Event Literary Festival

Spike Island Literary Festival 2025

Now in its fourth year, the Spike Island Literary Festival returns this September with a gripping programme dedicated to the art of crime writing. Set against the unique backdrop of Spike Island’s infamous former prison, this one-of-a-kind festival brings together acclaimed authors and literary experts for a series of thrilling conversations, live readings and thought-provoking panels.

With a dark history of four prisons over 400 years, Spike Island is the perfect setting for literary enthusiasts from book lovers to budding writers. Engage with your favourite authors and discover what inspires them through author-led panel discussions, experience readings from world-class writers as they recite their most famous works in unique locations or take the first steps to getting your own work published by meeting with a renowned literary agent.

Step inside the walls that once held some of Ireland’s most notorious criminals and immerse yourself in stories that intrigue, unnerve and captivate. Whether you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, gritty detective fiction, or chilling true crime, Spike Island is the ultimate setting for your next plot twist.

This year’s programme features a stellar line-up of renowned authors such as Stuart Neville, Andrea Mara, Michelle McDonagh, Sam Blake, Tom Casey, C.L Taylor and more.

Join us at the Spike Island Literary Festival this September — where mystery, suspense, and storytelling collide.