Introducing the Fourth Laureate for Irish Fiction 2025-2028: Éilís Ní Dhuibhne

Éilís Ní Dhuibhne is the author of more than thirty books including the novels The Dancers Dancing, The Shelter of Neighbours, Fox, Swallow, Scarecrow, Dordán, Cailíní Beaga Ghleann na Blath and seven collections of short stories. Her most recent books are Twelve Thousand Days: A Memoir (shortlisted for the Michel Déon Award 2020) and Little Red and Other Stories (2020), Selected Stories (2023), Fáínne Geal and Lae (2023). Her many literary awards include the Pen Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature, and a Hennessy Hall of Fame Award and many Oireachtas Awards for her writing in Irish. The Dancers Dancing was shortlisted for the Orange Prize 2000. She has written many scholarly articles on folklore and literary topics, and is a regular book reviewer for The Irish Times. In autumn 2020 she held the prestigious Burns Scholarship at Boston College. She is a member of Aosdána, and President of the Folklore of Ireland Society. 

Niall MacMonagle, writer and critic, has edited several anthologies including the Lifelines series, the Poetry Now textbooks, Windharp, Poems of Ireland since 1916 and Paul Durcan 80 at 80. He writes a weekly article column in the Sunday Independent and in 2017 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by UCD for services to literature.