Join us for a conversation with Katriona O’Sullivan to discuss her new book Hungry. 

Described as ‘a biography of my body’, Katriona provides a raw insight into the complex impact that childhood hunger, sexual trauma, the male gaze, and unachievable body norms have had on her relationship with her body, shining a light on women’s shared experience in their collective search for self-acceptance.

This event is kindly supported by Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Meet the Artists

Dr Katriona O'Sullivan was born in Coventry to Irish parents, where her upbringing was marked by addiction, poverty, teenage pregnancy, and homelessness. In 1998, at 20, she moved from Birmingham to Dublin and subsequently enrolled in the Trinity College access programme, going on to complete a PhD and becoming an award-winning lecturer and speaker whose work challenges barriers to education. Her first book, Poor, was critically acclaimed, winning two Irish Book Awards in 2023 for Best Biography and Listeners’ Choice Award. It has been in the top ten non-fiction bestsellers in Ireland for over two years, as well as selling almost 30,000 copies in the UK.

Tara Mills has worked for BBC Northern Ireland for more than 25 years. She started her career as a reporter during a pivotal part of the peace process. After ten years reporting with a particular interest in social affairs she moved to presenting. She’s been the 6.30pm news anchor for the last ten years. She has also made three recent documentaries about mental health.  Her most recent BBC Spotlight film I Am Not Okay changed government policy around funding for children with autism and a severe learning disability. It was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award. Social justice is at the heart of all of her journalism.

This event is kindly supported by Joseph Rowntree Foundation.The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is an independent social change organisation, working to support and speed up the transition to a more equitable and just future, free from poverty, where people and planet can flourish.  We believe that a better future is possible.  

This event will be introduced by Ursula O’Hare. Ursula is the Head of Northern Ireland with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.