WRITING – I write from necessity. If I’m not writing, I’m miserable. I’ve written lots of non-fiction over the years but I reached a turning point in 2009 when I was short listed for the Virginia [Woolf] prize for my novel, Bone and Blood, published in 2014. Now every day is a writing day wherever I am.
Gunther
Gunther will be my third novel. It is about writing and AI Das Buch erscheint im Herbst. Stay tuned!
Michel-Michelle
My second novel Michel-Michelle challenges fixed notions of gender and seeks to increase awareness of diversity in ourselves, our friends, our families, and others.
Bone and Blood
My first novel, Bone and Blood, was inspired by a visit to Ravensbrück concentration camp near Berlin where I found out some Irish women had been imprisoned during the Second World War.
Read my blog
#UlsterBorder Eighteen
Banners, flags, and emblems have an emotional history in Northern Ireland and can unhinge us. Madge Herron describing her father tells us: “That little line where all his flags hang out is now collapsed/In the house next to us, there…
#Ulster Border
Locals cross the border between #Donegal in the Republic and #Fermanagh in Northern Ireland daily. Both counties are rural and both part of #Ulster. Since the #PeaceAgreement in 1998, a united Ireland needs a majority of citizens in both jurisdictions…
UlsterBorder Sixteen
The farmer buys diesel at a service station in #Pettigo which has petrol pumps in both euro and sterling. Ireland joined the euro as a common currency but the UK kept sterling and miles. When you cross the #Ulsterborder in…
Ulster Border Fifteen
Small roads with stone bridges criss-cross the hills between #Donegal and #Tyrone.Many roads and bridges to Castlederg on the #Ulsterborder between Donegal, Fermanagh and Tyrone were closed during the “Troubles”. #MichellGallen, a writer who grew up in Castlederg in #Tyrone,…
ULSTER BORDER Fourteen
Since the Peace Agreement in 1998, this road sign may be the only indication you have crossed #European border. Mainland Europeans accustomed to driving on the right are reminded to drive on the left but so many of the small…
UlsterBorder Thirteen
Polarisation in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s meant the roads that crisscross the #UlsterBorder were blocked during the “Troubles” and the main border crossings like this one in Strabane, my birthplace, had heavily fortified checkpoints. After demolition, it is hard…