“One of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation .” Sunday Times
In Few and Far Between, the last few residents of the Lough Neagh Archipelago are facing imminent eviction. The flood planned to combat a devastating algae outbreak will submerge their homes, forcing them back to the Mainland for the first time in fifty years. For many, the Neagh Archipelago represented a utopia, a chance to be free of the prejudices and history of Troubles-era Northern Ireland. But perhaps this utopia wasn’t all that it seemed..? Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in East Belfast. The Fire Starters won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland 2019 and the Kitschies Prize for Speculative Fiction. The Raptures was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Novel of the Year, the Dalkey Book Prize and the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Prize 2022. Jan has been shortlisted for the Sean O’Faolain Short Story Prize, the BBC National Short Story Prize and An Post Irish Short Story of the Year Award, and won the Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Prize.
In conversation with Margaret Kelleher , Professor and Chair of Anglo-Irish Literature & Drama, UCD.