Writing History

Through a crime and mystery narrative, Christine Falls explores a range of social issues prevalent in 1950s Dublin, including corrupt power and the oppression of women. Join authors John Banville, Martina Devlin and John MacKenna in conversation with author Emily Hourican as they explore how historical fiction can illuminate the prominent issues of an era and give us a better understanding of the societies, places and times in which fictionalised stories unfold. 

Dr Martina Devlin is an author and newspaper columnist. She has written novels, plays, non-fiction books and a collection of short stories. Her latest novel, Glorious Monsters – about Frankenstein author Mary Shelley – will be published in September 2026. Other novels include Charlotte which explores Charlotte Brontë’s Irish connections; Edith about the Irish R.M. co-author Edith Somerville; and The House Where It Happened about the 1711 Islandmagee witchcraft trial, which led to a plaque to commemorate those wrongly convicted following a campaign she initiated. Prizes include the Royal Society of Literature’s V.S. Pritchett Prize and a Hennessy Literary Award, and she has been shortlisted three times for the Irish Book Awards. Martina writes a weekly current affairs column for the Irish Independent for which she has been named National Newspapers of Ireland commentator of the year, among other journalism prizes. She holds a PhD in literary practice from Trinity College Dublin and has lectured there and in other universities on Irish literature.

Emily Hourican is the author of ten novels and one book of non-fiction. She has been an award-winning editor and journalist with the Sunday Independent, Ireland’s biggest-selling newspaper, for over 20 years. Her first novel, The Privileged, was published in 2016 and was short-listed for the Best Popular Fiction Award at the 2016 Irish Book Awards. In 2019 she began writing historical fiction, and has since published five acclaimed, best-selling historical novels set around the Guinness and Kennedy families, starting with The Glorious Guinness Girls. She recently published her first novel for children, M**der at the Ivy Hotel. She lives in Dublin with her husband, David, and three children.

John MacKenna is the author of twenty-six books: novels, short-stories, memoir, biography and poetry. He has also written a number of stage and radio plays and is a frequent contributor to RTÉ Radio 1. He is a winner of the Hennessy New Writing Award, the Irish Times Fiction Award and the Cecil Day Lewis Literary Award. His novel The Space Between Us was shortlisted for the Kerry Book of the Year Award.

This event is part of this year's One Dublin One Book initiative, which aims to encourage everyone in Dublin to read a designated book connected with the capital city during the month of April every year. This year's selection is Christine Falls by John Banville. This annual project is a Dublin City Council initiative, led by Dublin City Libraries and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature and supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

See the full 2026 programme here. 

Copies of Christine Falls (Faber) are available to borrow from all Irish public libraries in physical format and in digital format as eBooks and eAudiobooks via the Borrowbox app. 

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