Jan Carson has won the EU Prize for Literature Ireland 2019 for The Firestarters, her novel about two very different but equally troubled fathers, set against a backdrop of a Belfast once more aflame, told in her unique blend of gritty and maghic realism. Conor Kostick, president of the Irish jury, said: “This is a sensuous read where sentences tumble unexpectedly from the page. Here, for example, we enter the mind of a sectarian murderer from east Belfast, now reformed. A writer with a pleasingly distinctive style, she is also an intelligent and courageous commentator.”Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in Belfast. She was longlisted for the Sean O’Faolain short story prize in 2015 and won the Harper’s Bazaar short story competition in 2016.

Source: The Irish Times May 22, 2019 18:22 UTC