Blog
Opinion: Why it’s not that strange to seek solace by reading books that imagine the worst
Author Niall Bourke explores why we turn to books about disaster to find some solace in life. First pubished on thejournal.ie May 1st 2021, 2:30 PM...
Econo-fi: a new science-fiction Niall Bourke, author of Line, on why economics poses a threat to us all.
Econo-fi: a new science-fiction Niall Bourke, author of Line, on why economics poses a threat to us all The Irish Times Thu, Apr 8, 2021, 12:12 Niall Bourke When I sat...
Inspiring creative writing in schools
Note about the Inspire conference and anthology 'Inspire: Exciting Ways of Being Creative' was a conference hosted online by Goldsmiths' Centre for Language, Culture...
‘I’m not afraid to just write, experiment, have a bit of fun’
‘I’m not afraid to just write, experiment, have a bit of fun’ ‘Line’ is a novel with a premise that feels at once appalling and darkly familiar, where the characters...
“Line is about people that live in a queue or line for so long, for multiple generations, that they have forgotten its purpose.”
Big thanks to Maeve Mulrennan for her interview, which you can read over at The Honest Ulsterman - or below. Niall Bourke’s début novel Line will be published by Tramp...
Panenka – Book Review
Panenka – Rónán Hession (Bluemoose Books, May 2021). A celebration of the things other novels often avoid – and all the better for it. A wise man recently told me there...
The Erection Specialists
My story 'The Erection Specialists' was published in The Honest Ulsterman on 22nd September 2020 - and if you are interested you can read it here. It is entirely...
What I’ve Been Reading
Some of what I've been reading this year in no particular order: Tennis Lessons (Susannah Dickey - Doubleday): Equal parts funny and poignant, it chronicles a young...
What Is Pisa – And Why Should We Care?
With the U.K sitting in 18th position in the latest Pisa rankings, and the predictable furore about whether this is a justification or indictment of recent educational...
Ofsted: it’s loathed by many – but are there really any credible alternatives?
When Labour’s Angela Rayner announced she would scrap Ofsted, I was surprised she was met with such widespread opposition. I mean, I expected some dissenting voices...