Rónán Hession
@ronanhession.bsky.social
Irish writer. Leonard and Hungry Paul, Panenka, Ghost Mountain.
www.ronanhession.com
Music as Mumblin' Deaf Ro https://mumblindeafro.bandcamp.com/
www.ronanhession.com
Music as Mumblin' Deaf Ro https://mumblindeafro.bandcamp.com/
Pinned
Rónán Hession
@ronanhession.bsky.social
· Mar 14
The 100 best Irish books of the 21st century: No 50 to No 26
A panel of more than 60 experts (authors, critics, academics, festival curators and booksellers) select their favourite Irish novels and short stories of the years 2020-2025
www.irishtimes.com
Honoured that Leonard and Hungry Paul has been included in the @irishtimes.com 100 best Irish books of the 21st century (so far), at 38. Thanks so much to the contributors who selected it.
(Ps. I was a contributor but didn't nominate or upvote my own book.)
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
(Ps. I was a contributor but didn't nominate or upvote my own book.)
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
Reposted by Rónán Hession
Museum at the Museum! 🥁🎶
Join Doo-Doong Samulnori Percussion Ensemble at Chester Beatty for a lively performance celebrating the Lunar New Year of the Horse. Experience vibrant rhythms rooted in Korean folk and festival traditions—fun for all music lovers!
📅 Wednesday 25 February, 18.00–19.00
🎫 Free
Join Doo-Doong Samulnori Percussion Ensemble at Chester Beatty for a lively performance celebrating the Lunar New Year of the Horse. Experience vibrant rhythms rooted in Korean folk and festival traditions—fun for all music lovers!
📅 Wednesday 25 February, 18.00–19.00
🎫 Free
February 18, 2026 at 10:24 AM
Museum at the Museum! 🥁🎶
Join Doo-Doong Samulnori Percussion Ensemble at Chester Beatty for a lively performance celebrating the Lunar New Year of the Horse. Experience vibrant rhythms rooted in Korean folk and festival traditions—fun for all music lovers!
📅 Wednesday 25 February, 18.00–19.00
🎫 Free
Join Doo-Doong Samulnori Percussion Ensemble at Chester Beatty for a lively performance celebrating the Lunar New Year of the Horse. Experience vibrant rhythms rooted in Korean folk and festival traditions—fun for all music lovers!
📅 Wednesday 25 February, 18.00–19.00
🎫 Free
Doing my usual Dad duty of muttering while turning off all the left-on lights around the house, but with the seasonal variation that "I know it's Chinese New Year but we don't have to leave *all* the lights on."
February 17, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Doing my usual Dad duty of muttering while turning off all the left-on lights around the house, but with the seasonal variation that "I know it's Chinese New Year but we don't have to leave *all* the lights on."
Reposted by Rónán Hession
Cover reveal for my new book, A Hosting, to be launched Tuesday, April 21 in Hodges Figgis. Designed for @lilliputpress by the brilliant Niall McCormack using the Louis le Brocquy print The Táin. Army Massing, 1969. Greatness by association.
February 17, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Cover reveal for my new book, A Hosting, to be launched Tuesday, April 21 in Hodges Figgis. Designed for @lilliputpress by the brilliant Niall McCormack using the Louis le Brocquy print The Táin. Army Massing, 1969. Greatness by association.
Spent a birthday Eason voucher on my Gerald Murnane library. Took me a few books to *get* him but we're all good now.
Last Letter to a Reader and Collected Short Fiction in the attractive And Other Stories covers, and then Landscape Within Landscape in the ugly cover that looks like a proof.
Last Letter to a Reader and Collected Short Fiction in the attractive And Other Stories covers, and then Landscape Within Landscape in the ugly cover that looks like a proof.
February 17, 2026 at 9:07 PM
Spent a birthday Eason voucher on my Gerald Murnane library. Took me a few books to *get* him but we're all good now.
Last Letter to a Reader and Collected Short Fiction in the attractive And Other Stories covers, and then Landscape Within Landscape in the ugly cover that looks like a proof.
Last Letter to a Reader and Collected Short Fiction in the attractive And Other Stories covers, and then Landscape Within Landscape in the ugly cover that looks like a proof.
Jas Fagan, a shop selling communion suits that I passed on Saturday on Thomas St. Like a different era.
February 17, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Jas Fagan, a shop selling communion suits that I passed on Saturday on Thomas St. Like a different era.
Reposted by Rónán Hession
Ding, ding, ding: my collection, launching 19th March, is available for pre-order
www.lilliputpress.ie/products/fou...
www.lilliputpress.ie/products/fou...
Four Night Seas - Niamh Mac Cabe - The Lilliput Press
Set across liminal landscapes, Four Night Seas is a collection of stories from award-winning author Niamh Mac Cabe feature characters navigating emotional or existential thresholds – grieving, seeking...
www.lilliputpress.ie
February 17, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Ding, ding, ding: my collection, launching 19th March, is available for pre-order
www.lilliputpress.ie/products/fou...
www.lilliputpress.ie/products/fou...
If you're looking to give up something for Lent, why not give up not coming to my book events?
You could begin your penance by coming to see me chat with Mei Chin about Chinese literature @gutterbookshop.bsky.social on Thursday at 6.30pm.
It's free!
www.dublinlunarnewyear.ie/events/great...
You could begin your penance by coming to see me chat with Mei Chin about Chinese literature @gutterbookshop.bsky.social on Thursday at 6.30pm.
It's free!
www.dublinlunarnewyear.ie/events/great...
Great Books of China - Gutter Bookshop - Dublin Lunar New Year 2026
www.dublinlunarnewyear.ie
February 17, 2026 at 4:41 PM
If you're looking to give up something for Lent, why not give up not coming to my book events?
You could begin your penance by coming to see me chat with Mei Chin about Chinese literature @gutterbookshop.bsky.social on Thursday at 6.30pm.
It's free!
www.dublinlunarnewyear.ie/events/great...
You could begin your penance by coming to see me chat with Mei Chin about Chinese literature @gutterbookshop.bsky.social on Thursday at 6.30pm.
It's free!
www.dublinlunarnewyear.ie/events/great...
Reposted by Rónán Hession
Wait a week and it might be two-for-one, but in the meantime here’s the link should you like a copy bit.ly/4bVQMR7
February 17, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Wait a week and it might be two-for-one, but in the meantime here’s the link should you like a copy bit.ly/4bVQMR7
TIL that "shrove" means to give absolution after confession and penance.
February 17, 2026 at 3:26 PM
TIL that "shrove" means to give absolution after confession and penance.
George Saunders' next limbo/bardo novel should focus on the time between the death of Andre the Giant in January 1993 and his reincarnation six months later with the birth of Ariana Grande in June 1993.
February 17, 2026 at 3:20 PM
George Saunders' next limbo/bardo novel should focus on the time between the death of Andre the Giant in January 1993 and his reincarnation six months later with the birth of Ariana Grande in June 1993.
The William Butler Yeats making its way under the Eastlink toll bridge at lunchtime.
According to Wikipedia it cost €71m in 2016 and is a "Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel."
According to Wikipedia it cost €71m in 2016 and is a "Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel."
February 17, 2026 at 2:32 PM
The William Butler Yeats making its way under the Eastlink toll bridge at lunchtime.
According to Wikipedia it cost €71m in 2016 and is a "Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel."
According to Wikipedia it cost €71m in 2016 and is a "Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel."
Reposted by Rónán Hession
COVER REVEAL:
Many thanks to @feekra.bsky.social for this brilliant design.
_Post - it - Notes From Underground_ by Simon Crump.
We publish June 25th .
Marvelous.
@thebookseller.com
@bookcornerhx.bsky.social
Many thanks to @feekra.bsky.social for this brilliant design.
_Post - it - Notes From Underground_ by Simon Crump.
We publish June 25th .
Marvelous.
@thebookseller.com
@bookcornerhx.bsky.social
February 17, 2026 at 12:29 PM
COVER REVEAL:
Many thanks to @feekra.bsky.social for this brilliant design.
_Post - it - Notes From Underground_ by Simon Crump.
We publish June 25th .
Marvelous.
@thebookseller.com
@bookcornerhx.bsky.social
Many thanks to @feekra.bsky.social for this brilliant design.
_Post - it - Notes From Underground_ by Simon Crump.
We publish June 25th .
Marvelous.
@thebookseller.com
@bookcornerhx.bsky.social
Reposted by Rónán Hession
Lenten dancehall closures in the Republic meant that Ireland's music business sector became heavily tilted towards the north and border counties in the showband era.
You could argue that this set the scene for both Dana and Northern Ireland's punk golden age.
You could argue that this set the scene for both Dana and Northern Ireland's punk golden age.
February 17, 2026 at 11:49 AM
Lenten dancehall closures in the Republic meant that Ireland's music business sector became heavily tilted towards the north and border counties in the showband era.
You could argue that this set the scene for both Dana and Northern Ireland's punk golden age.
You could argue that this set the scene for both Dana and Northern Ireland's punk golden age.
Shipbuilding by Elvis Costello.
What’s the best song lyric in history?
February 17, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Shipbuilding by Elvis Costello.
Reposted by Rónán Hession
Lemon Knows I'm Miserable Now.
Pancake on the streets of London. Pancake on the streets of Birmingham.
February 17, 2026 at 8:51 AM
Lemon Knows I'm Miserable Now.
Reposted by Rónán Hession
Here it is, your moment of zen.
February 17, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Here it is, your moment of zen.
All hail DC, the king of puns.
February 17, 2026 at 10:01 AM
All hail DC, the king of puns.
Reposted by Rónán Hession
Devotions is out in just 2 months! If you’d like to preorder a copy @waterstones.bsky.social are running a 25% promotion from today 17 Feb- midnight 20 Feb, just enter FEB26 at the checkout. I’ve also been signing lots of pretty candle bookplates for your local indie preorders!
February 17, 2026 at 7:25 AM
Devotions is out in just 2 months! If you’d like to preorder a copy @waterstones.bsky.social are running a 25% promotion from today 17 Feb- midnight 20 Feb, just enter FEB26 at the checkout. I’ve also been signing lots of pretty candle bookplates for your local indie preorders!
On the question about whether/how art should be political, as a reader I'm trying to think about what influence fiction and writers have had on my understanding of politics. I would say almost never on the hot topics but yes on taking the long view over time or in cool clear retrospection.
February 16, 2026 at 9:40 PM
On the question about whether/how art should be political, as a reader I'm trying to think about what influence fiction and writers have had on my understanding of politics. I would say almost never on the hot topics but yes on taking the long view over time or in cool clear retrospection.
Am reminded of Pancake Tuesday 2020 – the first of the pandemic – when I accidentally ate five bananas in one day.
February 16, 2026 at 9:35 PM
Am reminded of Pancake Tuesday 2020 – the first of the pandemic – when I accidentally ate five bananas in one day.
Stefan Rusinov, Bulgarian translator of experimental Chinese writer Can Xue, says she is viewed as part of the Chinese avant garde who grew up during the Cultural Revolution.
They are sceptical about traditional realism which shows humans as coherent, monophonics, intrinsically good.
Contr ...
They are sceptical about traditional realism which shows humans as coherent, monophonics, intrinsically good.
Contr ...
February 16, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Stefan Rusinov, Bulgarian translator of experimental Chinese writer Can Xue, says she is viewed as part of the Chinese avant garde who grew up during the Cultural Revolution.
They are sceptical about traditional realism which shows humans as coherent, monophonics, intrinsically good.
Contr ...
They are sceptical about traditional realism which shows humans as coherent, monophonics, intrinsically good.
Contr ...
Interesting fact in The Economist news briefing this morning: Vietnam has been invaded by four of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Note: I think it means in the past – they weren't invaded by the four this morning AFAIK.
Note: I think it means in the past – they weren't invaded by the four this morning AFAIK.
February 16, 2026 at 9:36 AM
Interesting fact in The Economist news briefing this morning: Vietnam has been invaded by four of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Note: I think it means in the past – they weren't invaded by the four this morning AFAIK.
Note: I think it means in the past – they weren't invaded by the four this morning AFAIK.
Re political fiction, I think it's interesting when a writer works against the reader's instincts. Now I Am Here by Chidi Ebere is a good example of this. About a mediocre man who joins and flourishes within a violent militaristic movement. Clever writing by omission.
February 15, 2026 at 11:09 PM
Re political fiction, I think it's interesting when a writer works against the reader's instincts. Now I Am Here by Chidi Ebere is a good example of this. About a mediocre man who joins and flourishes within a violent militaristic movement. Clever writing by omission.
When we met my wife's retired bus driver uncle yesterday, he commented on the pointy toes of her silvery shoes: "They'd take the eye out of a spider," he said.
February 15, 2026 at 10:06 PM
When we met my wife's retired bus driver uncle yesterday, he commented on the pointy toes of her silvery shoes: "They'd take the eye out of a spider," he said.
Our twenty-seventh Valentine's day together. We refuse to look in the right direction in photos, which is what makes our relationship so strong.
February 15, 2026 at 7:24 PM
Our twenty-seventh Valentine's day together. We refuse to look in the right direction in photos, which is what makes our relationship so strong.