To celebrate the release of Home Economics, we are delighted to host Caitríona Lally in conversation on this, her first book of non-fiction, with Jackie Lynam. An honest and forward look at the pile-up which is the colliding parts of selfhood: the mother who is a cleaner so that she can be a writer. Bold and thought-provoking, self-deprecating and soaked in Caitríona Lally’s singular voice, Home Economics quietly but forcefully puzzles over personal/home economics, creativity and the true impact of ‘success’ and ‘failure’ on a writer’s life.
Admission to this event is free but booking using the form below is essential.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
CAITRÍONA LALLY is the recipient of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature (2018) and a Lannan Fellowship for Fiction (2019). In October 2021, she was announced as the inaugural Rooney Writer Fellow at Trinity Long Room Hub. Her first novel, Eggshells , was published in the UK by Borough Press in 2018) and her second novel Wunderland was published by New Island Books in 2021. Caitríona lives in Dublin and divides her time between her young children, writing and working in the housekeeping department at Trinity College Dublin.
JACKIE LYNAM is a writer from Dublin. Her poems have been published in several journals and anthologies, and she has been shortlisted for the Anthony Cronin International Short Poem Award and RTÉ’s The Prompt writing competition. Her debut chapbook Traces: Poems and Essays was published in 2023 and was longlisted for the Carousel AWARE Prize for Independently Published Authors. She received an Arts Council Agility Award in 2024. In recent years she has interviewed Irish and international writers at many Irish literary festivals including West Cork Literary Festival, Write by the Sea, Dublin Book Festival and Writers Week in Listowel.
PRAISE FOR HOME ECONOMICS
“This is absolutely one to read about the reality of ‘making it’ as an artist, and how to live, make money and create.” - Aoife Barry, The Journal
“Hilarious, audacious, and deeply felt. An idiosyncratic hymn to the drudgery of life!” - Sara Baume
“I thought I’d be interested in Home Economics because I too work a manual job that pays a pittance, yet still provides more income than writing books. And yes, Lally is wonderfully insightful about the difficulties and advantages of such a life. But in the end it was her wit, her ever-curious and amused outlook on the daily trials and joys of life, that had me hooked. This book has that delicate quality of seeming simple while containing all the complexity of trying not simply to make a living, but to live.” - Lucy Sweeney Byrne
“A remarkable piece of writing … As a fellow writer, I read the book with a profound sense of respect for what Caitríona has achieved, particularly given the difficult circumstances under which much of this work has been produced. Her account of sustaining a writing life alongside paid labour and motherhood is both unsparing and generous, and it resonated deeply with me … There is something quietly bracing in encountering such a lucid account of a writing life, one that refuses myth-making while still allowing space for ambition, desire and joy … This is a generous, intelligent and finely wrought book.” - Patrick Holloway