BOOK LAUNCH

Those Who Listen

– New Irish Writing on the Bog

Edited by Alice Kinsella

The bog: ancient, a carbon sink, energy source, way of life, ecosystem, childhood memory. A place of heritage, of nature, of inspiration. With contributions from both award-winning authors and first time writers, this anthology showcases how bogs connect us to our natural and ancestral roots, while also exploring themes of heritage, the rural working-class, and ecological and historical conservation. A collection of original poetry and prose, Those Who Listen explores the ecological, historical, and cultural significance of the Irish bog.

Contributors: Terry McDonagh, Eimear McBride, Jane Clarke, Christina Hennemann, Maya Ní Mhóráin, Margaret Flanagan, Niall Scully, Kate Carty, (dw) dean black, Liam Horan, Edel Burke, Seán McNicholl, Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Laura Healy, Belinda McKeon, Daniel Wade, Bethany Dawson, Sinead Grimes, Benny Martin, Terri Metcalfe, Elizabeth Reapy, Dani Gill, Seán Lysaght, Niall Scully, Ailbhe Wheatley, Anne Walsh Donnelly, Kerri Ní Dochartaigh, Kate Flood, Tony Deffely, Róisín Stack, Gustav Parker Hibbett.

About the editor: Alice Kinsella is a writer, editor, and creative writing teacher. Her books include Milk: On Motherhood and Madness (Picador, 2023), Wake of the Whale (Mayo Books, 2024) which was a Sunday Independent Book of the Year, and The Ethics of Cats (Broken Sleep, 2025). She edited Empty House: Poetry and Prose on the Climate Crisis (Doire, 2021). She runs All Weather Words creative workshops and retreats, and writes the substack ‘Creation in Crisis’. She’s an Arts Council of Ireland Next Generation Artist, and lives in County Mayo.