Launch of Sinéad Gleeson's "Hagstone"

The sea is steady for now. The land readies itself. What can be done with the woman on the cliff?

On a wild and rugged island cut off and isolated to some, artist Nell feels the island is her home. It is the source of inspiration for her art, rooted in landscape, folklore and the feminine. The mysterious Inions, a commune of women who have travelled there from all over the world, consider it a place of refuge and safety, of solace in nature.

All the islanders live alongside the strange murmurings that seem to emanate from within the depths of the island, a sound that is almost supernatural – a Summoning as the Inions call it. One day, a letter arrives at Nell’s door from the reclusive Inions who invite Nell into the commune for a commission to produce a magnificent art piece to celebrate their long history. In its creation, Nell will discover things about the community and about herself that will challenge everything she thought she knew.

Beautifully written, prescient and eerily haunting, Sinéad Gleeon’s fiction debut takes in the darker side of human nature and the mysteries of faith and the natural world. A novel from one of our most beloved literary voices, this is perfect for fans of Margaret Atwood and Sarah Moss.

Sinéad Gleeson’s essay collection Constellations: Reflections from Life won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, the Dalkey Literary Award for Emerging Writer and was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Michel Déon Prize. She is the editor of the award-winning anthologies The Long Gaze Back: An Anthology of Irish Women Writers and The Glass Shore, as well as The Art of The Glimpse: 100 Irish Short Stories. In 2022, she co-edited This Woman’s Work: Essays on Music with Kim Gordon. Sinéad also collaborates with artists and musicians on performance and sound installations. Her work has been translated into several languages and her debut novel Hagstone was published in 2024 by 4th Estate.

Host or Publisher Glucksman Ireland House NYU