Join us as we celebrate 35 years of The Lilliput Press (and counting)!! Lilliput has worked to discover and promote Irish writing of the highest standard. As the festivities continue, take a moment to peek at some of our favourite memoirs.

 

1. Lucifer to Lazerus by Mick O’Reilly

In From Lucifer to Lazarus: A Life on the Left, Mick O’Reilly shares his experiences as a politician and trade unionist and his unwavering thoughts and insights on controversial, complex issues. O’Reilly discovered socialism and militant trade unionism in the early 1960s when he joined the National Union of Vehicle Builders. This recently published memoir emphasises often overlooked values, setting itself apart as a unique, intimate read.

 

2. Telling Tales by Penny Perrick

Anita Leslie was a celebrated biographer who wrote extensively on subjects who were often her own relatives, such as her great-aunt Jennie Churchill, mother of Winston, and the sculptor Clare Sheridan, a cousin. Penny Perrick brings together the intricacies of Leslie’s life in a stunning biography telling of adventure, memories, heartache and loss. This memoir will leave you inspired and hungry for more!

 

3. Over the Backyard Wall by Thomas Kilroy

We love this memoir’s gorgeous cover! we might love the words inside even more. According to Thomas Kilroy, one of Ireland’s most distinguished living playwrights, his captivating memoir materialized in response to a cataract operation in 2006, shocking his memory into being and imparting him with a uniquely tactile and sensuous perception of his past. Over the Backyard Wall utilizes the silences of the past to liberate the imagination, making use of social and political history to reinvigorate the shard-like nature of his narrative memory.

 

4. Writer to Writer by Ciaran Carty

If you love to write (or love to read) this is the book for you! This is a genre-crossing collection of interviews and essays that recounts in intimate detail encounters with many of the world’s foremost writers. Interspersed are photos as well as a charismatic commentary, provided by editor and veteran journalist Ciaran Carty, revealing a surprising, often unexpected interconnectedness between authors like Martin Amis, Saul Bellow, John Banville, JG Ballard, Anne Enright, Carlos Fuentes, Allen Ginsberg, Joseph Heller and more.

 

5. Beat by Rowan Somerville

As noted by Lara Marlowe of The Irish Times: “Rowan Somerville has written an amazing book. Beat is a riveting, intelligent and scrupulously honest journey through the torment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It runs the gamut of human behaviour, from blood-curdling barbarity to extraordinary generosity; a tour-de-force.” By the way, as part of our Lilliput 35 celebrations, this book is 20% off for a limited time!

 

Pop in and have a look at these memoirs in person!