In association with our new partners International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD), a special Shortlist podcast series has been commissioned which will be hosted by Irish writers Jessica Traynor and Caelainn Hogan.
Jessica Trayor is a writer, dramaturg and creative writing teacher based in Dublin. Her poems have been published widely, with two collections published by Dedalus Press, Liffey Swim (2014), shortlisted for the Strong/Shine Award, and The Quick (2018). She won the Listowel Poetry Prize in 2011, was named Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year in 2013, and in 2014 was the recipient of the Ireland Chair of Poetry Bursary. She has been commissioned by the Arts Council, Poetry Ireland, and the Salvage Press. She has worked as Literary Manager for the Abbey Theatre and as Deputy Museum Director at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum. (Dedalus Press)
Caelainn Hogan is a writer and journalist from Ireland. Her first book Republic of Shame is published by Penguin which explores and documents the ongoing legacy of the religious-run institutions in Ireland. She has reported from within Syria during the conflict, writing about everyday people living amidst the war, from cancer patients seeking treatment across front lines to young brides whose fathers had been forcibly disappeared. Caelainn is currently based in Dublin writing about inequality, politics and legacy.
Over the course of ten episodes, Jessica and Caelainn will discuss each of the shortlisted books and speak exclusively to the authors and translators in contention for the award.
Episode 1 – An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
In this episode, Caelainn and Jessica discuss An American Marriage, published by Algonquin Books, and speak to author Tayari Jones.
Episode 2 – All the Lives We Never Lived by Anuradha Roy
Episode 3 – Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk & translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Episode 4 – History of Violence by Édouard Louis & translated by Lorin Stein
Episode 5 – The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
Episode 6 – Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Episode 7 – The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
Episode 8 – Milkman by Anna Burns – 2020 Winner
In this episode, Caelainn and Jessica discuss Milkman, published by Faber & Faber and Graywolf Press, and speak to the book’s author Anna Burns.
Episode 9 – Disoriental by Négar Djavadi & translated by Tina Kover
In this episode, Caelainn and Jessica discuss Disoriental, published by Europa Editions, and speak to the book’s author Négar Djavadi, and translator Tina Kover.
Episode 10 – There There by Tommy Orange
In this episode, Caelainn and Jessica discuss There There, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Harvill Secker, McClelland & Stewart Inc, and speak to the book’s author Tommy Orange.