Louise Kennedy in conversation with Roddy Doyle

Two titans of literature - Women’s Prize-shortlisted author of Trespasses Louise Kennedy and Booker prize winner Roddy Doyle - talk about their writing, taking as a starting point Kennedy's unforgettable new novel Stations on the day of its publication, and covering everything from writing about the place of your youth to the importance of mentoring others.

‘Stations is a beautiful novel about loss and being lost; at its centre is a brilliantly drawn
collection of found family’ - Nick Hornby

‘I gulped this down - convinced, fascinated, and moved by every page’ - Emma Donoghue

‘What a beautiful book … Stations will live in my head for a long time to come’
Liz Nugent

LOUISE KENNEDY grew up a few miles from Belfast. She is the author of the acclaimed short-story collection, The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac, which won the John McGahern Prize. Her debut novel Trespasses has been translated into over twenty languages. A Sunday Times bestseller, it won the Book of the Year: Debut Fiction at the British Book Awards, the McKitterick Prize and the Eason Novel of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for several awards including the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and Barnes and Noble Discover Prize. In 2025, Trespasses was released as a limited TV series by Channel 4. Before starting her writing career, Kennedy spent nearly thirty years working as a chef. She lives in Sligo.

RODDY DOYLE was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of ten acclaimed novels, including The Commitments, The Van (a finalist for the Booker Prize), Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (winner of the Booker Prize), The Woman Who Walked Into Doors, A Star Called Henry, The Guts and most recently, Love. Doyle has also written several collections of stories, as well as Two Pints, Two More Pints and Two for the Road, and several works for children and young adults including the Rover novels. He lives in Dublin.