With the essay form enjoying a hugely popular return, two of the most original writers working in Ireland today discuss their writing and the need for personal voices. Ian Maleney’s poignant debut essay collection Minor Monuments asks what is it that binds us to others and to ourselves. Part memoir and part exploration, his thoughtprovoking essays unfold from the landscape of the Irish midlands. Tunnel Vision, Kevin Breathnach’s piercingly intelligent essay collection, is a documentary of the narrator’s post-adolescent relationships and intimate portrayal of unstable masculinity and sexual repression, conveyed with sensitivity and wit. In conversation with writer Joanna Walsh, author of Hotel and Break.up