“[Dolan] breaks the rule of intimacy with wit and panache that are second to none.” – Kit Fan, author of Diamond Hill

“Susannah Dickey is, quite simply, one of the funniest and most insightful novelists writing today.” – Nell Frizzell, author of The Panic Years

In wise, darkly comic, and deeply empathetic observations, Dolan and Dickey discuss what it means to be human in a dehumanising time.

Bursting at the seams with secrets, envy, and longing for connection, these sensational narratives explore the fallout when lives collide in the most intimate of circumstances. Two of Ireland’s finest novelists take the stage to investigate love, loss, and looking for the elusive happy ending.

With a sparkling cast of characters, Naoise Dolan’s The Happy Couple charts the lives of five people looking for their happily ever after; but can it really be found at the end of an aisle? Set in a Belfast tenement, Dickey’s Common Decency follows the lives of Lily and Siobhán, running on parallel tracks but divided by gulfs of misunderstanding.

This event will be moderated by writer, performer, and cultural consultant from India, Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan.

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Naoise Dolan‘s debut novel Exciting Times became a Sunday Times bestseller, widely translated and optioned for TV.

Susannah Dickey grew up in Derry and now lives in London. Her debut novel, Tennis Lessons, was published in July 2020.