Aoibheann McCann

Aoibheann is originally from Donegal. She now lives in Galway where she writes fiction, non-fiction and the occasional poem. Her work has been published in literary journals in Ireland, UK, Italy and USA. Her work has been anthologised by Pankhurst Press (UK), New Binary Press and Arlen House, and is forthcoming in anthologies by Doire and Prospero (Italy). Her short stories have been longlisted for Colm Toibin 2019, shortlisted for Words on Waves 2015, Sunday Business Post/ Penguin Ireland 2018, Cúirt New Writing 2019 and second in the Maria Edgeworth 2019. She was awarded the Tyrone Guthrie Residency by Galway City Council for 2018. Currently working on her first collection of short fiction, Marina is her first novel.

MARINA

The novel follows the narrator, Marina, from infancy through a troubled childhood and the forging of a lifelong friendship with someone as lost as herself. The story of the heroine’s mental struggles, her musical talent, her escape to London, her offbeat boyfriend, her sojourn in suburbia and eventual return to Ireland builds to a shocking crescendo.

“Knowing and mysterious, funny and heartbreaking. Best of all though this is a genuine original, a singular enchantment.”
Mike McCormack, author of Solar Bones

“Rich in insights and wry humour, the novel explores what it is to be isolated, lost, and stranded between worlds. Aoibheann McCann writes exquisitely of the magnetic pull of sea and water, and the yearning to belong.”
Danielle McLaughlin, author of Dinosaurs on Other Planets

“Marina is that oh-so-rare novelistic thing – an ideal blend of luminous prose and read-on storytelling. A wonderful gift of a first novel.”
Alan McMonagle, author of Ithaca