We're thrilled to welcome the award-winning, bestselling writer, Donal Ryan to West Kirby to discuss his latest novel, Where are the Kings

Join us on Thursday 10th September at 7pm when we welcome the multi award-winning, bestselling novelist, Donal Ryan to the bookshop, to celebrate the publication of his latest novel, Where are the Kings.

Perfect for fans of Claire Keegan, Louise Kennedy and Colm Tóibín, Where are the Kings is an unforgettable, funny and intensely moving novel about a young boy coming of age after the loss of his mother. Donal's writing expertly explores the lives of ordinary people and those on the margins with an assuredness that makes him one of the most exciting Irish authors at work today.

Donal will be in conversation with Jordan from the bookshop, before answering questions from the audience and signing copies of his books. Tickets are £6 standard admission or £20 including a copy of Where are the Kings.

Tickets are non-refundable but if you can't attend the event and would like to reserve a signed & dedicated copy of the book, please do get in touch.

We look forward to seeing you there!

About Where are the Kings:

Jack is just twelve years old when he rushes down the hill after his mother's car on his bike, desperate to reach her before she reaches the lake. What happens next cannot be undone. Jack's life changes just at the moment he is entering those dizzying years when he will transition from boy to man; when nothing makes sense at the best of times.

Yet Jack is not alone. Enveloped as he is by his extended family - his ferociously loving Nana; Grandad, given to sudden bursts of rage; his earthy uncles Haulie and Theo who want to show him what it means to be a man, and the irascible JJ who resents him deeply. Then there is beautiful aunt Rose, whose mere presence ignites every atom in his changing body.

But how can a boy with so many questions, in a family with so many secrets, understand the person he is becoming? Without his mother to ground him on the earth, will he spin off into the stars?

The stunning, emotional story of a young boy coming of age just as his life is thrown into new waters. Beautifully poignant, deeply lyrical and layered, this is a novel that resonates beyond the page.

About Donal Ryan:

Donal Ryan, from Nenagh, County Tipperary, has published seven number one bestselling novels and a short story collection.

He has won several awards for his fiction, including the European Union Prize for Literature, the Guardian First Book Award and six Irish Book Awards, and has been shortlisted for several more, including the Costa Book Award and the Dublin International Literary Award. He was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2013 for his debut novel, The Spinning Heart, and again in 2018, for his fourth novel, From A Low and Quiet Sea. The Spinning Heart was voted Irish Book of the Decade in 2016.

In 2021 Donal became the first Irish writer to be awarded the Jean Monnet Prize for European Literature. His most recent novel, Heart Be at Peace, won both Novel of the Year and Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, and was shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the Nero Book Awards.

His work has been adapted for stage and screen and translated into over twenty languages. Donal has lectured in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick since 2014 and lives in Castletroy with his wife Anne Marie and their two children.

Description supplied by the event organiser.