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Novel Ideas

Novel Ideas is Northern Ireland’s longest-running author interview series. Across twelve seasons from 2015 to 2025, hosts Debbie McGrory, Mike Gaston, Elliot Lloyd, Tony Macauley, Karen Mooney and others sit down with local writers to discuss their latest publications.

The series spans an exceptionally wide range of genres and subjects. Fiction writers explore crime, fantasy and contemporary life; poets share their collections and creative process; historians examine topics from the shipyard communities to suffragettes, colonialism to the Troubles; and memoirists reflect on personal journeys through care, conflict and cultural identity. Guests range from internationally acclaimed figures like Bernard MacLaverty and Paul Muldoon to debut authors publishing their first novels.

Notable conversations include Peggy Seeger reflecting on her musical and political heritage, Margaret Ward on republican women, Peggy Seeger’s childhood in music and politics, Marianne Elliott on housing estates, and numerous crime writers including Kelly Creighton, James Murphy and Sam Millar. The series also covers cultural history – flute bands, Belfast riots, the West Belfast Festival, and local landmarks like Balmoral Cemetery.

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Novel Ideas: Anne Madden

Debbie McGrory talks to former journalist Anne Madden about her first novel ‘The Wilderness Way’.
Show added:
24/03/2025

Novel Ideas: Margaret Ward – Rebel Women

Rebel Women tells the previously untold story of republican women in the North in the 1914-1924 period. Author Margaret Ward discusses her work on the book and bringing this history to light.
Show added:
06/03/2025

Novel Ideas: Angeline King

Novelist and author Angeline King talks about her new novel ‘The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew’ the story of teenager coming of age in the testing terrain of Northern Ireland in 1995.
Show added:
04/02/2025

Novel Ideas: Isabel Kelly

Mike Gaston talks to Isabel Kelly about her memoir ‘IS-Abel’, which depicts her experiences growing up in care, overcoming emotional and physical abuse and becoming the first foster child in the Down and Lisburn area to graduate from university.
Show added:
20/12/2024

Novel Ideas: The Lost and Early Writings of James Connolly – Conor McCabe

Historian Conor McCabe brings together Connolly’s earliest writings, many of which have remained unpublished or inaccessible for over a century.
Show added:
13/11/2024

Novel Ideas: PUNK As F*CK with author Micky Cassidy

Author of ‘Punk as F*CK’ Micky Cassidy reflects on growing up in Belfast in the late 1970s as a punk rocker.
Show added:
28/03/2024

Novel Ideas: Jude Morrow

Mike Gaston interviews Jude Morrow on his book ‘Dan Cooper’.
Show added:
28/03/2024

Novel Ideas: Mark Lynch

Debbie McGrory interviews the writer Mark Lynch.
Show added:
15/02/2024

Novel Ideas: Rotten Prod – Emmet O’Connor

Rotten Prod by historian Emmet O’Connor tells the story of Belfast shipyard worker and labour activist James ‘Dongaree’ Baird.
Show added:
19/05/2023

Novel Ideas: Malachi O’Doherty

Mike Gaston talks to writer and broadcaster Malachi O’Doherty about his new book ‘Can Ireland Be One?’
Show added:
13/12/2022

Novel Ideas: Frank Higgins

Liam Logan talks to Author Frank Higgins about his book, ‘Tall Tales & Short Stories’ which reflects on the lives of the men of the Belfast shipyard.
Show added:
19/08/2022

Novel Ideas: Evan Marshall

Elliot Lloyd talks to author Evan Marshall about his his book ‘Fields of Wonder’.
Show added:
19/08/2022
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