Laura McKenna‘s debut novel, Words to Shape My Name, was a winner at the 2020 Novel Fair. It was published by New Island in 2021 and shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award. Laura has a PhD in Creative writing from UCC. She is the recipient of Tyrone Guthrie, Cork County Council, John Montague Mentorship and Arts Council bursaries. Twice nominated for a Hennessy Literary Award for poetry, Laura was chosen for the 2021 Poetry Ireland Introductions Series. She is currently working on her second novel and her first collection of poems.

Image by Clare Keogh.