TPOE 117: Wendy Erskine

Belfast writer Wendy Erskine released one of the best collections of short stories in 2018 with her debut, Sweet Home, out on Stinging Fly. Comprising ten stories, it's a book that excites at every turn, always keeping you on your toes. Irish Times new fiction critic Sarah Gilmartin said Sweet Home is "a thought-provoking collection of stories that sparkled with dry wit and prose precision". I talked to Wendy on the same day that the TLS longlisted Sweet Home on its Republic of Consciousness Prize 2019, an award for the best book from a small press of five full-time employees or fewer with the criteria of “hard-core literary fiction, and gorgeous prose”. There are 13 books on the longlist and the shortlist will be announced on March 2. On the podcast, Wendy talks about how she found her literary voice after burying it decades before, Belfast, Ireland's thriving literary scene, some of the stories in Sweet Home and lots more.