"As a writer, you're often playing a game of 'what if?'"

I had a great chat with Séan Rocks about my debut collection Wild Quiet. We talked about the inspiration behind some of the stories, the dangers of drawing on real life, and how I used religious iconography to add to the strangeness of the title story. We also chatted about Derry, and Séan asked about some of the autobiographical elements in 'Ebenezer's Memories.'

"It was as I sat swinging my legs that I first heard it: a low moan with the sadness of whale song, drawn out and muffled as if reaching me from across oceans, yet close enough to make the windowpanes shiver.."

May 16th has come around at last! Today is the official publication day of my first short story collection WILD QUIET. To celebrate, I've recorded an extract from the first short story in the collection - Ebenezer's Memories. Here, I chat a little bit about my family roots and about the origins of the story. Happy listening...

Acclaimed Irish short-story writer Roisín O'Donnell reads from her story 'Ebenezer's Memories,' from her debut collection WILD QUIET published by New Island Books on May 16th 2016. Roisín's stories have been published internationally and feature in the anthologies Young Irelanders and The Long Gaze Back. With family roots in Derry, she grew up in Sheffield and now lives in Dublin. You can find her at roisinodonnell.com