Alannah

Alannah Hopkin is a writer based in southwest Ireland. She is this year’s Frank O’Connor International Fellow and will be teaching on the M.A. in Creative Writing at University College, Cork. Her story collection The Dogs of Inishere was published by Dalkey Archive Press in 2017. Her stories have appeared in the London Magazine and The Cork Literary Review, among others, and been short-listed for the RTE Short Story Award. She has worked as a freelance journalist mainly in arts and travel, and as an art critic and book reviewer. She has published two novels with Hamish Hamilton (London) and her non-fiction books include Eating Scenery: West Cork, the People & the Place. She regularly hosts events for the Cork International Short Story Festival, the West Cork Literary Festival and Words by Water in her hometown, Kinsale. Her latest book ‘A Very Strange Man’: A Memoir of Aidan Higgins was published by New Island, Dublin in Spring 2021.

For enquiries about “A Very Strange Man” contact mariel.deegan@newisland.ie

You may be looking for another Alannah. If so this page of alternative spellings might help.

Download my CV, or read it here.

Read/Write

If you like to read

You can find more information about my published fiction on the Books page. You can buy my books on Amazon too.

With Aidan Higgins
Dermot Healy, essay on his work by Alannah Hopkin and Aidan Higgins from Writing the Sky – Observations and Essays on Dermot Healy (2015), edited by Neil Murphy and Keith Hopper, Dalkey Archive Press 2016:  ‘Newcomer, Mentor Old Hand’

Irish Examiner
After Ireland: Writing the Nation from Beckett to the Present by Declan Kiberd Book Review Irish Examiner (second page here)

Making Integral – Critical Essays on Richard Murphy Book Review Irish Examiner

Best European Fiction 2016 – Dalkey Archive Press Book review Irish Examiner

Best European Fiction 2014 – Dalkey Archive Press Book Review Irish Examiner

Best European Fiction 2013 – Dalkey Archive Press Book Review Irish Examiner

A Kind of Compass – Stories on Distance edited by Belinda McKeon Book review Irish Examiner

Review of Stinging Fly Stories edited by Sarah Gilmartin and Declan Meade Book review – Irish Examiner June 2018

Selected Stories by Éilís Ní Dhuibhne Book Review Irish Examiner

The O’Brien Archive –The Irish Examiner

Philip Larkin, Life, Art and Love by James Booth Book review Irish Examiner

Irish Times Diaries
Leonard Cohen – Irish Times Diary Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Séan Dunne – Irish Times Diary 2005 Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Lobster – Irish Times Diary Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Gerald MacSweeney Irishwoman’s Diary

Robert Gibbings Irishwoman’s Diary

John Calder 1997 – Irish Times Diary and second page here.

John Calder’s birthday Irishwoman’s Diary

Victoria Glendinning – Irish Times Magazine 2004 Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

RTE Sunday Miscellany
The Shooting of the Admiral – script of radio talk RTÉ Radio 1 Miscellany

E.L.Voynich – script of radio talk RTE Radio 1 Miscellany

Cork International Short Story Festival from The Oldie Magazine’s Go Away GB supplement –  10-12 Cork Go Away GB 2014

Some recent reviews of “A Very Strange Man”

Irish Times review of “A Very Strange Man” by Colm Toibin

Irish Independent interview about “A Very Strange Man” by Tanya Sweeney

Books Ireland review of “A Very Strange Man” by Sue Leonard

Books

I write books and short stories. My books are available from Amazon and from Dalkey Island Press. Click on a book cover to find out more about it. You can also purchase my new book “A Very Strange Man” from New Island Press

Books

A VERY STRANGE MAN

A love story set in the Irish literary world following the 29-year relationship between Alannah Hopkins and Aidan Higgins

ON THE BANKS

Cork City in Poems and Songs - a beguiling mosaic of a city that has been much loved by natives, transient residents and visitors alike

EATING SCENERY

‘You can’t eat scenery’ is an old saying about the difficulty of making a living in beautiful but remote places. West Cork, from Kinsale to the Beara Peninsula and from the Atlantic to the Lee Valley is such a place.

SHIP OF SEVEN MURDERS

In June 1828, the Mary Russell sailed into Cork Harbour from the West Indies. Seven crewmen lay in the main saloon, brutally and inexplicably murdered by the captain.

THE OUT-HAUL

A few years ago I was introduced to a woman at a party in Kinsale, where I live. ‘I’m very interested to meet you,’ she said, ‘I hear you’ve written a novel about my husband.’

A JOKE GOES A LONG WAY IN THE COUNTRY

There is a certain librarian in Cork who, every time he sees my name on my ticket, says in a furtive whisper ‘You wrote A Joke Goes a Long Way in the Country!’, and winks...

INSIDE CORK

Travel guide to Cork city and county. Probably the most thorough guide to Cork City and County ever written, this was one of the first books from the Collins Press, now a major figure in Irish publishing.

THE LIVING LEGEND OF ST PATRICK

This book looks at the historical man and the evidence of his writings, the apocryphal legends, the myth and the process that led in the 18th century to his emergence as a symbol of Irish nationalism.

THE DOGS OF INISHERE

A collection of the best of my stories from the past thirty years, will be published in Europe and the US on 21 April, 2017. This marks a welcome return to fiction writing after a long gap.

Watch/Listen

If you like to watch/listen

Reading the story ‘My Heart Aches’ online at Cork International Short Story Festival, October, 2021

Interviewing Sara Maitland at the Cork International Short Story Festival 2019

Interviewing William Wall, Cork International Short Story Festival 2017 (date tbc*)

With Carlo Gébler, reading from The Dogs of Inishereat Cork International Short Story Festival 2017

Fifty Years of Sunday Miscellany (New Island)
Listen to me reading from Sunday Miscellany (the following audio is courtesy of RTÉ Libraries and Archive) here:

(click just to the left of the timestamp if it won’t play)

The Shooting of the Admiral – radio talk – RTE Sunday Miscellany 22 March 2015

E.L.Voynich – radio talk – RTE Sunday Miscellany 05 October 2014
(Scroll down to find Listen button and Alannah’s piece starts at 0:38:58)

White – shortlisted for the RTE Francis McManus short story prize 2014 and read by Angela Harding
https://www.rte.ie/radio1/francis-macmanus-short-story/generic/2014/0709/629559-winning-stories-and-shortlist-2014/

Review of The Dogs of Inishere from RTE Lyric FM’s Culture Slot

(click just to the left of the timestamp if it won’t play)

Praise

Paula Elmore, Editor, The Collins Press Guide Books
I always welcome the opportunity to work with Alannahfor her professionalism, tact, diligence and ability to transform a script. She can see straight to the heart of the matter and is insightful about what is required to turn a script into a publishable prospect.

Tom Stainer, Senior Editor,  Insight Guides/Berlitz Handbooks
I have worked with Alannah on several Insight/Berlitz projects. She is a pleasure to work with and has brought her wide knowledge of the tourism business in Ireland, including hotels, restaurants, attractions, outdoor activities and cultural life, to each project.

Gemma Tipton, Guest Artistic Director, Kinsale Arts Festival, 2011 and 2012
Alannah has ably hosted and interviewed John Banville and Kevin Barry, among others. She has an instinct for fielding audience responses and framing them to create an engaged, enjoyable session that really opens up a sense of the books. With a writer’s insight, she creates an atmosphere that gives fresh insight, and a sense of really knowing the authors on stage.

Liam Ronayne, Cork City Librarian
I have enjoyed working with Alannah on a number of projects. The Cork World Book Festival commissioned Alannah to be guest curator for continental European writers in 2014.

Mary Keenan, Tree Council of Ireland
Alannah came highly recommended to provide editorial assistance with our book ‘Heritage Trees of Ireland’. She will tactfully challenge any vagueness, confusion or inconsistencies in a script to ensure that the writing becomes clearer and better while remaining respectful of the writer’s style and intended message. Her work is completed in a timely, efficient and concise manner, with meticulous attention to detail and a wonderfully pleasant demeanour.

Pat Cotter, Artistic Director, Munster Literature Centre
Alannah Hopkin is a writer and teacher I have had professional dealings with over the course of thirty years. In all that time I have known her to be impeccably reliable, efficient and kind. As a writer-critic-reader she shows great taste and judgement. As a workshop leader she demonstrates an uncanny ability to combine a commitment to exacting standards along with a deep awareness of, and consideration for, the needs of her students. This is why I have engaged her services as a writer and workshop provider on many occasions.