Gerard Beirne
@gerardbeirne.bsky.social
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.
Pinned
Gerard Beirne
@gerardbeirne.bsky.social
· Jul 15
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
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...
www.ruberybookaward.com/2025-winners...
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
"Araby" extract—James Joyce
November 30, 2025 at 11:18 PM
"Araby" extract—James Joyce
"...producing hard solitary thought for hours a day. That’s what writing is and in that way it’s very hard work and it absolutely requires all the conditions that make one a bore."
Tobias Wolff
Tobias Wolff
December 1, 2025 at 6:11 PM
"...producing hard solitary thought for hours a day. That’s what writing is and in that way it’s very hard work and it absolutely requires all the conditions that make one a bore."
Tobias Wolff
Tobias Wolff
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
"Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I'm always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it's very shocking to the system."
Flannery O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor
November 30, 2025 at 10:17 PM
"Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I'm always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it's very shocking to the system."
Flannery O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor
"Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I'm always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it's very shocking to the system."
Flannery O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor
November 30, 2025 at 10:17 PM
"Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I'm always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it's very shocking to the system."
Flannery O'Connor
Flannery O'Connor
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
Sean O’Casey with his wife, Eileen.
November 30, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Sean O’Casey with his wife, Eileen.
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
After a long day in the ILT library, it’s time to call it a night. Codladh sámh.
November 30, 2025 at 12:35 AM
After a long day in the ILT library, it’s time to call it a night. Codladh sámh.
"My dad used to say good writing ain't necessarily good reading."― Ken Kesey
November 29, 2025 at 11:01 PM
"My dad used to say good writing ain't necessarily good reading."― Ken Kesey
Overhearing two young women talking in the coffee shop: what the hell's a "situationship"? #ifeelsooutoftouch
November 28, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Overhearing two young women talking in the coffee shop: what the hell's a "situationship"? #ifeelsooutoftouch
The great Gloria Grahame. In a Lonely Place — what a remarkable film from an equally remarkable book, of the same title, by Dorothy B. Hughes
Gloria Grahame, Actress, Singer, #BornOnThisDay in 1923, in Los Angeles
November 28, 2025 at 2:48 PM
The great Gloria Grahame. In a Lonely Place — what a remarkable film from an equally remarkable book, of the same title, by Dorothy B. Hughes
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
Nancy Mitford, Novelist, Biographer, Journalist, #BornOnThisDay in 1904, in London
📸 Bassano Ltd (7 July, 1932)
📸 Bassano Ltd (7 July, 1932)
November 28, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Nancy Mitford, Novelist, Biographer, Journalist, #BornOnThisDay in 1904, in London
📸 Bassano Ltd (7 July, 1932)
📸 Bassano Ltd (7 July, 1932)
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
Here's a real treat. BBC just shared this 1961 Monitor interview with Frank O'Connor
If I hadn't left Cork, I'm quite certain I wouldn't have been the writer I am; but I think that if I hadn't been brought up in a city like this, I wouldn't have been a writer at all.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoIh...
If I hadn't left Cork, I'm quite certain I wouldn't have been the writer I am; but I think that if I hadn't been brought up in a city like this, I wouldn't have been a writer at all.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoIh...
1961: Frank O'Connor's Cork | Monitor | Writers and Wordsmiths | BBC Archive
YouTube video by BBC Archive
www.youtube.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Here's a real treat. BBC just shared this 1961 Monitor interview with Frank O'Connor
If I hadn't left Cork, I'm quite certain I wouldn't have been the writer I am; but I think that if I hadn't been brought up in a city like this, I wouldn't have been a writer at all.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoIh...
If I hadn't left Cork, I'm quite certain I wouldn't have been the writer I am; but I think that if I hadn't been brought up in a city like this, I wouldn't have been a writer at all.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoIh...
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
An early version of the Kavanagh poem we now know as "Raglan Road". The widely disliked line about the Queen of Hearts still making tarts is not here.
November 27, 2025 at 5:22 PM
An early version of the Kavanagh poem we now know as "Raglan Road". The widely disliked line about the Queen of Hearts still making tarts is not here.
Jennifer Egan: “The reason I like writing from a male point of view has to do with why I love writing, period, which is that I love the feeling of being delivered out of my self, out of my own life, and into another world.”
November 27, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Jennifer Egan: “The reason I like writing from a male point of view has to do with why I love writing, period, which is that I love the feeling of being delivered out of my self, out of my own life, and into another world.”
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
“My novels have been influential and popular in Britain, where I am among the bestselling literary authors of the last decade. The disappearance of my work from bookshops would mark a truly extreme incursion by the state into the realm of artistic expression.”
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
Sally Rooney says she will be unable to publish books in UK while Palestine Action banned
Irish author Rooney says her books could disappear from UK stores altogether
www.irishtimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:56 PM
“My novels have been influential and popular in Britain, where I am among the bestselling literary authors of the last decade. The disappearance of my work from bookshops would mark a truly extreme incursion by the state into the realm of artistic expression.”
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
"The poem is a seagull resting on a pier at the end of the ocean."
Jack Spicer
Jack Spicer
November 26, 2025 at 6:59 PM
"The poem is a seagull resting on a pier at the end of the ocean."
Jack Spicer
Jack Spicer
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
I miss the days of when you wanted to hear a particular song you put a request in on the radio and took your chances.
November 23, 2025 at 12:49 PM
I miss the days of when you wanted to hear a particular song you put a request in on the radio and took your chances.
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
Remember dedicating a song to your crush? Good times!
November 24, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Remember dedicating a song to your crush? Good times!
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
I recall being in a NYC cab, only to hear on the radio that my name requested a song, I hadn’t but the DJ had run out of random names, had to use those of personal friends as no one had ‘faxed’ a request to New York’s most banal radio station of the time. Light FM?
November 23, 2025 at 11:40 PM
I recall being in a NYC cab, only to hear on the radio that my name requested a song, I hadn’t but the DJ had run out of random names, had to use those of personal friends as no one had ‘faxed’ a request to New York’s most banal radio station of the time. Light FM?
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
Based on short stories and characters by the one an only Damon Runyon. For some reason, my dad had the omnibus, and I devoured it. Fell in love.
Guys and Dolls—perhaps the quintessential Golden Age musical comedy—opened at the 46th Street Theatre on this date 75 years ago.
(The legendary Jo Mielziner did the sets)
(The legendary Jo Mielziner did the sets)
November 24, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Based on short stories and characters by the one an only Damon Runyon. For some reason, my dad had the omnibus, and I devoured it. Fell in love.
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
But it was so exciting parking yourself in front of the radio for that chance.
November 24, 2025 at 3:54 PM
But it was so exciting parking yourself in front of the radio for that chance.
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
And if a favorite song was playing on the radio as you pulled up to your place, yo drove around the block to hear it all…
November 24, 2025 at 1:36 AM
And if a favorite song was playing on the radio as you pulled up to your place, yo drove around the block to hear it all…
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
I called a radio station one night (while with my girlfriend) & the DJ answered! Said I was caller number x, got to pick a song, what was my name, my school. I answered the Qs, requested a Beatles song. Next day at school, kids were like, “Wow, we heard you on the radio last night!” LOL. Fun memory.
November 23, 2025 at 11:55 PM
I called a radio station one night (while with my girlfriend) & the DJ answered! Said I was caller number x, got to pick a song, what was my name, my school. I answered the Qs, requested a Beatles song. Next day at school, kids were like, “Wow, we heard you on the radio last night!” LOL. Fun memory.
Reposted by Gerard Beirne
I miss the days when you could have a song dedicated to someone.
November 24, 2025 at 2:12 AM
I miss the days when you could have a song dedicated to someone.
The inimitable Jim Harrison.
Another poem by Jim Harrison, this one from Plain Song (1965)
November 23, 2025 at 3:52 PM
The inimitable Jim Harrison.
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI.
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:07 PM
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI.
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...