Literary Agency

Walsh Communications Literary Agency is home to some bright, emerging new talent.

Our newest authors are:

 

MICHAEL MURPHY _______________________________________

Michael Murphy is a Psychoanalyst and Broadcaster, well known as one of Ireland's best loved newscasters on RTE. His first book, At Five in the Afternoon, will be published by Brandon Books in September 2009.

At Five in The Afternoon: My Battle With Male Cancer

This unique memoir is about experiencing cancer, but it is also about so much more. It is about masculinity, family, women, life, love and loss. It is about the very essence of the human condition.


Michael Murphy is an admired broadcaster, writer and psychoanalyst, and this is a pathbreaking book which has a very special relevance for all whose lives have been touched by cancer, but which also appeals to anyone who loves to read a moving story exceptionally well told. This book is set to touch the hearts and minds of all its readers. Check out some readers' reviews here.

As Mary Robinson writes in her Foreword:

His book is unflinchingly honest, and he breaks down the taboo around men speaking the unspeakable...
What I have realised is that in writing about all aspects of the cancer theme – traumatic assault, mortality, endurance – Michael has created a personal myth to live by. His memoir graphically treats of themes which take enormous risks of courage to put into words, but through the exceptional quality of his writing, they have become a pillar of light which has enabled him to continue on in the warmth of its lustre, despite his loss and the limits that have now been reached.

At Five in the Afternoon reached Number 2 in the Non-Fiction Bestseller List.

To buy from Easons, click here.

To buy from Amazon, click here.

 

MAUREEN COPPINGER____________________________________

Maureen Coppinger is an Irish industrial school survivor. She emigrated to Canada with her husband in 1955, where they raised three sons. She worked as a school secretary for 25 years before retiring in 1994 and now spends her leisure time as a volunteer for the Galway Association. Her autobiography, Annie's Girl: How an Abandoned Orphan Finally Found the Truth About Her Mother, is out now and published by Mainstream Publishing.

Annie's Girl: How an Abandoned Orphan Finally Found the Truth about Her Mother


Maureen Harte’s earliest memory is of watching the woman she believed to be her mother walk away and abandon her to the care of the nuns at one of Ireland’s notorious industrial schools. She was just three years old.

She would remain in the orphanage until the age of sixteen, subjected to cruelty and neglect, and starved of love and affection. One of her closest friends was taken away to an asylum after her spirit was broken by repeated beatings and Maureen herself faced a constant battle against despair. It was an environment from which none would emerge unscathed.

Throughout these tormented years, Maureen dreamt only of escape, and when she was contacted again by her mammy she believed all her dreams were about to come true. Life in the outside world brought its own challenges, however, and Maureen was thrown into turmoil when she discovered that the truth about her past was more murky than she had ever realised.

Annie’s Girl stands apart as a poignant testimony to the resilience of the human heart. This touching and evocative memoir is the incredible story of an illegitimate industrial school survivor’s profound struggle to overcome a shame-filled past and solve the mystery of her origins.

To buy direct from the publishers, click here.

To buy from Easons, click here.

To buy from Amazon, click here.

 

FIONA CASSIDY_________________________________________

Fiona Cassidy, aka NI writer, mum and excited wife-to-be Fionnuala Cassidy, is a first time author whose debut novel, Anyone For Seconds? is due out with Poolbeg Press in November 2009. Originally from Galbally, Fiona now lives in Donaghmore, County Tyrone with her partner Philip and their five children (hers, his and theirs); Colm (14), Catriona (12), Una (12), Ciaran (11) and Aine (2). She is a lifetime lover of literature and reading and has penned three novels to date.  She has also written several short stories and writes book reviews for Verbal Magazine. Fiona is a Licentiate member of the Institute of Personnel and Development and has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Communication specialising in Training and Development. She currently works as Outreach and Promotions Officer for arural charity based at a leading NI University.

Anyone For Seconds?

Meet Frankie McCarthy, single mother to Ben and Carly, PR Guru and a woman who finds men who wear glasses irresistible.

Enter Owen Byrne (Clark Kent minus the manky y-fronts).  He’s sexy, dynamic and is everything a girl could wish for. The one fly in the ointment comes in the form of his difficult teenage daughter, Angelica (who was obviously named before she was able to criticise her father’s choice in girlfriends.)

The path of true love never runs smooth but for Frankie and Owen the road is particularly treacherous (a minefield would be safer).  Family crisies, interfering in-laws (or is that outlaws?), random disasters, and a bittersweet tragedy all culminate to test their relationship, whilst faces from the past threaten their family unit.

Second chances don’t happen very often and when they do the best advice is to grab them with both hands.  The question is: will Frankie and Owen have the courage to stand together when it matters most and become a family with 2.4 children, or is that 3.6 children?  

Anyone for Seconds is an hilarious tale of what happens when two families join together to make one brand new one!

Please direct Rights Enquiries to Emma Walsh

 

TOM GALVIN____________________________________________

Tom Galvin was born in Dublin and educated at University College Dublin and St Patrick's College, Maynooth. He has a BA in English and Philosophy, an MA in Philosophy, and a City & Guilds in Photography. In 1994 he went with APSO (Agency for Personal Service Overseas) the state body for development overseas, to Poland to work as a teacher in a state school. While there, he began writing regularly for the Warsaw Voice, the English language paper for Poland and Central Europe. In the late nineties, he contributed to programmes on Poland's English language service on Radio Polonia. He left Poland after five years and returned to Ireland where he began working as a staff writer (and later editor) for In Dublin magazine as well as contributing travel features to other titles including the Sunday Independent, The Irish Times, Backpacker and Abroad magazine.  

In 2004 he wrote The Little Book of Dublin for New Island and contributed to the opinion columns of the Evening Herald before working as Arts/Culture editor of Village magazine.  

 The following year Tom published his account of life in Poland in his book There’s an Egg in My Soup (O’Brien Press) which was critically well-received. He is presently the books editor and editor of the Polish supplement with the Evening Herald. Tom is married and lives in Wicklow, just outside Dublin.

Alongside White Skin, Black Hearts Tom also has another book completed called Gabriel’s Gate.

White Skin, Black Hearts


Three young men facing into their responsibilities as thirty-somethings, plan one final backpacking trip together across Mexico. Beginning their journey in a vibrant colonial hotel in Mexico City, they meet an old English lawyer who gives them advice about travel in a country that has seen its fair share of troubles while also being home to some of the most beautiful locations on earth.

A magnificent journey across Mexico follows and the characters encounter adventure, excess and romance until an offer of a jungle trek that will take them off the beaten track emerges, and the group, now numbering four having met a bright, sparkling Australian kid, have to make a decision.

Deciding to alter their plans and embark on the trek, a terrifying chain of events kick off in which they are forced to face the harshness of nature and the cruelty of man in a chase that sees them fighting for their survival yet simultaneously bent on revenge.

White Skin, Black Hearts is an exhilarating adventure story that tears the reader away from a dream trip in beautiful Mexico and forces them to question what they would do when suddenly faced with terrible odds.

Was the fate of the group sealed from the outset? Did these men bring the harrowing events that befell them upon themselves? This is a shocking and disturbing story, but one that is ultimately redemptive.

To read sample chapters of White Skin, Black Hearts, click here.

Rights Available, please contact us for more information.

ALISON MCGUIRE______________________________________

Alison McGuire is 35 years old and is a freelance coach, trainer and training content writer.  Born in North London, with an insatiable taste for adventure, she left home to go to university at 18 and never returned. A passion for learning and the written word led her to the University of Sunderland where she read English and completed a thesis entitled ‘20th Century Visions of Androgyny’, a comparison between Virginia Woolf and Jeanette Winterson, two of her all time favourite authors.

As a teenager she endured, rather than enjoyed, a job as a magician’s assistant. Her job responsibilities included: getting sawn in half, levitating, being cut in three pieces, contorting oneself to fit in minute spaces etc… the usual! In the more recent past, Alison has worked as a Recruitment Consultant, which she hated, because it had no heart and soul, though she did learn to type and smoke at the same time so feels it wasn’t all a complete waste of time. She has also taught adult literacy here in Ireland which she loved and hopes to return to.

Alison met her husband Alex when she was assigned as his trainer for an induction programme where he worked. He came bottom of the class, and they had their first kiss on a night out to celebrate the completion of the course. Within days they had fallen in love and within months they were married. Now they have three beautiful children Toby (6), Max (4) and Amelie (1).

They currently live in Carnew in Wicklow, a stunning house with a dream garden that nearly became the ultimate nightmare when a massive fire tore through the house three years ago. They thankfully made it out alive and Alex remains the great hero to his boys after literally rescuing them from the burning building. Although, Alison still finds it annoying that when they argue he has the ultimate winning line – I saved your life!! Asides from reading books and analyzing her flourishing garden Alison quite shamefully admits to liking to knit, though begs readers not to judge her on it, she usually does it was a glass of French wine and some smelly cheese in one hand. Alison is a keen reader and collector of books. and devours literature, classic and contemporary, at an alarming rate. She is now ready to add her own literary voice to the throng. Alison’s writing is sharp, exquisitely observed and with a lightness of touch that sets it out on its own. Her writing seeks to understand how an individual internally processes the big moments and events in their life and the world around them.

To read sample chapters of The Barefoot Gardener by Alison McGuire, click here.

Rights Available, please contact us for more information.

***************************************************************************

SUBMITTING YOUR WORK TO WALSH COMMUNICATIONS

Here at Walsh Communications Literary Agency we focus on building talented writers' careers.

If you feel you have got incredible writing talent, a strong idea and a way with words and would like to submit some samples of your work to us for consideration, then please use our contact form to get in touch with us in the first instance, outlining your writing project and any previous writing experience you may have (please do not send us your work right away) and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Please note: We receive a great deal of submissions on a weekly basis and it may take us some time to get back to you so please be patient! Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

"));