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Gerard Beirne

@gerardbeirne.bsky.social

1.6K followers 1K following 370 posts

Author of 8 books of fiction & poetry. Recent:The Thickness of Ice (novel, Baraka Books, 2024);The Death Poems (Salt, 2023).Winner of Rubery Award for Fiction. Shortlisted Danuta Gleed Award, Bord Gais Irish Book Awards, & Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award.

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Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · Jul 15

Very pleased to have won the 2025 International Rubery Book Award for Fiction for The Thickness of Ice (Baraka Books).

www.ruberybookaward.com/2025-winners...

2025 Winners

FICTION Winner The Thickness of Ice by Gerard Beirne A restrained, but immersive novel set in the subarctic town of Churchill, Manitoba. We shift between different times and focuses and that makes...

www.ruberybookaward.com

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Reposted by Gerard Beirne

Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 19h

"James Joyce is a good model for punctuation. He keeps it to an absolute minimum. There’s no reason to blot the page up with weird little marks. I mean, if you write properly you shouldn’t have to punctuate."

Cormac McCarthy

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Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · 21h

"I have a great respect for the semi-colon; it’s a useful little chap."

Abraham Lincoln

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Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · 1d

“To write requires an ego, a belief that what you say matters. Writing also requires an aching curiosity leading you to discover, uncover, what is gnawing at your bones.”

― Terry Tempest Williams

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Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · 1d

Shutting up shop tonight with this one - Blaze Foley

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAFo...

If I Could Only Fly

YouTube video by Blaze Foley - Topic

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Gerard Beirne

Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 3d

Colm Tóibín on The Poems of Seamus Heaney: ‘A process of finding echoes and associations’

www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

Colm Tóibín on The Poems of Seamus Heaney: ‘A process of finding echoes and associations’

This book contains Heaney’s unpublished poems plus all those from his single books of poetry published

www.irishtimes.com

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Reposted by Gerard Beirne

Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 2d

Reminds me of a different portrait of Sinéad O’Connor at a concert rehearsal with the image of the Observer photographer Jane Bown reflected in her pupils.

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Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · 2d

I remember publishing Clea way back in The Fiddlehead @fiddlehd.bsky.social. Great to see that she has a new collection out.

Vancouver Writers Fest @writersfest.bc.ca · 2d

On Oct 26, hear from three local authors of outstanding new short story collections: Bill Gaston (Tunnel Island), Clea Young (Welcome to the Neighbourhood), & Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross (The Longest Way to Eat a Melon). Moderated by Holly Flauto.

writersfest.bc.ca/festival-eve...

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Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 3d

Catherine Connolly skipped parts of Ulysses #Smearthebejaysus #Smearthebejaysis

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Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · 3d

“Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads.” —Marianne Moore

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Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 3d

Colm Tóibín: Why I set up a press to publish Nobel winner László Krasznahorkai

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

Colm Tóibín: Why I set up a press to publish Nobel winner László Krasznahorkai

The Irish novelist discovered the Hungarian writer two decades ago, and was excited by the verbal pyrotechnics of a rule-breaking storyteller

www.theguardian.com

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Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 3d

Previously unpublished Seamus Heaney poems released
bbc.com/news/article...

Seamus Heaney: Previously unseen poetry published

A major volume of poetry by Seamus Heaney includes previously unseen works.

bbc.com

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Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · 3d

I wonder if crime writers of old when typing up their manuscripts used dead keys more than most.

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Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 4d

Sarah Clancy @sarahmaintains.bsky.social:

After arrest, imprisonment, and deportation from Israel, Sarah Clancy, an Irish Gaza flotilla participant, reflects on solidarity, conscience, and the power of ordinary Irish people
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

Sarah Clancy: Flotillas show that ordinary people must be the antidote to toxic world powers

After arrest, imprisonment, and deportation from Israel, Sarah Clancy, an Irish Gaza flotilla participant, reflects on solidarity, conscience, and the power of ordinary people

www.irishexaminer.com

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Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 4d

Galway activist @sarahmaintains.bsky.social home – but still angry at her treatment off Gaza

connachttribune.ie/galway-activ...

Galway activist home – but still angry at her treatment off Gaza - Connacht Tribune - Galway City Tribune

Galway activist home – but still angry at her treatment off Gaza

connachttribune.ie

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Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · 5d

What's a great movie image that is ingrained in your head?

Reposted by Gerard Beirne

Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 5d

There's no getting away from Yeats in Sligo. Mural spotted in The Canopy shopping centre.

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Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · 6d

“Of all the subjects I’m interested in...writing is way, way down at the bottom of the list.”

Cormac McCarthy

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Reposted by Gerard Beirne

Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · 6d

Graham Greene: “The greatest saints have been men with more than a normal capacity for evil, and the most vicious men have sometimes narrowly evaded sanctity.”

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Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · 6d

Graham Greene: “The greatest saints have been men with more than a normal capacity for evil, and the most vicious men have sometimes narrowly evaded sanctity.”

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Reposted by Gerard Beirne

Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 6d

Independent TD Barry Heneghan and author Naoise Dolan @naoisedolan.bsky.social are among the detainees.

www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...

Independent TD and author among Irish citizens on board flotilla ships intercepted by Israel

Independent TD Barry Heneghan and author Naoise Dolan are among the detainees

www.irishexaminer.com

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Reposted by Gerard Beirne

Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 6d

Independent TD Barry Heneghan and author Naoise Dolan among Irish detained by Israel from Gaza flotilla www.independent.ie/world-news/m...

Independent TD Barry Heneghan and author Naoise Dolan among Irish detained by Israel from Gaza flotilla

Five Irish citizens are believed to be detained by Israeli forces after a group of flotilla vessels attempting to deliver aid to Gaza was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters on Wedne...

www.independent.ie

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Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 6d

Marina Carr and Caitríona McLaughlin discuss The Boy: A Two-Play Theatrical Event

youtu.be/F3ImY_MMf-s?...

Marina Carr and Caitríona McLaughlin discuss The Boy: A Two-Play Theatrical Event

YouTube video by Abbey Theatre

youtu.be

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Gerard Beirne @gerardbeirne.bsky.social · 6d

“Of all the subjects I’m interested in...writing is way, way down at the bottom of the list.”

Cormac McCarthy

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Rhianna Pratchett @rhi.bsky.social · 9d

GNU Jilly Cooper. Jilly and dad were friends and the only person I’ve known to call him ‘Tel’. Hope they’re both having a big drink somewhere.

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Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 9d

"There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."
― Oscar Wilde

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