Join acclaimed Irish writers Susannah Dickey and Kathleen MacMahon for a conversation about their latest novels. 

Written with empathy and wit, Susannah’s novel into the wreck tells the story of five family members ahead of a funeral. 

Kathleen’s captivating novel Other People’s Lives focuses on two best friends whose families are intertwined. 

Chaired by Lucy Sweeney Byrne, this conversation explores relationships, friendship and the messy realities of family life. 

Meet the writers

Susannah Dickey is a writer from Derry. She is the author of Tennis Lessons (2020) and Common Decency (2022). Her third novel, into the wreck, will be published by Bloomsbury in April 2026. Her debut poetry collection, ISDAL, was a Guardian and Irish Times Book of the Year, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and won the inaugural PEN Heaney Prize and the Michael Murphy Memorial Prize. She lives in Belfast.

Kathleen MacMahon is the author of five novels and numerous short stories. Her work has been listed for the Irish Book Awards, the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year and the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her most recent novel is Other People’s Lives, published in May 2026 by Penguin Sandycove.

Lucy Sweeney Byrne's work has appeared in various anthologies and literary magazines in Ireland, the U.K. and the U.S.A. including The Dublin Review, The Stinging Fly, Banshee, AGNI, Southword, 3:AM and Irish Stories (Everyman's Pocket Classics), amongst others. Her story collections, Paris Syndrome (2019) and Let's Dance (2024), published by Banshee Press, were met with critical acclaim and shortlisted for numerous awards, including the Edge Hill Prize. Her writing has been generously supported by the Arts Council of Ireland. She also reviews for The Irish Times.