The Nerve: An English and Arts Podcast

This episode of the podcast welcomes The Irish Times columnist and novelist Patrick Freyne to talk about his debut novel, Experts in a Dying Field. The book follows a group of former bandmates, now middle-aged, who end up circling back to one another to make sense of their past and present. In the process, we encounter the perspectives of their friends, lovers, family members and even God, and a fox. Patrick discusses his former life as a musician, the myriad of ways AI is robbing us of our ability to connect, and how writing a novel in bursts on the bus might be one way of avoiding burnout. Patrick’s first book OK, Let’s Do your Stupid Idea was released in 2020 and his highly engaging and frequently hilarious columns are available on The Irish Times website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the podcast, Jenny chats to the author of three acclaimed novels, Lisa Harding. Her first book, Harvesting, about two young girls who find themselves victims of sex trafficking, won the Kate O’Brien Award for Irish fiction. It was called a “fierce and heartbreaking accomplishment” by The Irish Times. Her second novel, Bright Burning Things, was nominated for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year. Her most recent book, The Wildelings, explores the issues of co-dependency and manipulation in a Dublin university and was chosen as one of the best books of the year by The Irish Examiner. Lisa joined staff and students at SETU for a Creative Writing workshop that focused on voice, identity and belonging, and talks on the podcast about her interest in complex characters, the impact of Covid on her career and the process of “messy” writing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this first episode of the new semester, Jenny chats with the poet and author David Toms, who is originally from Waterford but currently living in Norway. David’s memoir, Pacemaker, is both a celebration of walking and a detailing of life with a rare congenital heart condition. His new collection of poetry, Hold Over Fire, is one that explores the links between the poetry of Scandinavia and that of Ireland, as well as themes of home and nature. Playful in its approach to language, it also contains a poem formed around the accounts of Thompson’s funeral home in Waterford city. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This final episode of the podcast for the academic year features BA Arts graduate Dr Caleb O’Connor. After his degree in English and Psychology at then-WIT, he went on to do an MA in Gender, Sexuality and Culture at UCD. He then won a UCD Ad Astra scholarship to complete a PhD in queer ecology and a Fulbright Award to pursue his studies at NYU. As well as lecturing at UCD, he has published in a variety of collections on queer ecology and also works as a Community and Outreach Engagement Lead at Outhouse. During the podcast, he talks about the confidence he gained from his time at WIT/SETU and UCD, explains what queer ecology is and discusses its importance to questions of sustainability and environmental and social justice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jen Bray’s first novel, The Lies Between Us, is set in the seaside village of Dunmore East in Co. Waterford, where a disappearance and a murder cause old wounds to be reopened and family secrets to be unveiled. This first novel has shot to the top of bestseller lists in Ireland and has now been sold to publishers in Germany, Poland and the United States. However, Jen also holds down a full-time job as Political Editor of The Sunday Times and was formerly a political journalist with The Irish Times. In this episode of the podcast, she chats about juggling these roles, the joy that writing gives her and how she processed her own brush with violence through her novel.

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