CLAIRE KILROY
Claire Kilroy is the author of four novels. She won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2004, has been shortlisted three times for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, and was an inaugural recipient in 2019 of the Markievicz Award. Her fifth novel, Soldier Sailor, described by Anne Enright as "a scorching read," and by Sebastian Barry as "a radiant and fearless work of universal import," will be published by Faber in May.
FERDIA MacANNA
Ferdia Mac Anna returns to the RTÉ Short Story Competition as a judge this year. He works as a novelist, film director, screenwriter and lecturer. In 1996, his novel, The Last of the High Kings was made into a Hollywood movie starring Jared Leto, Gabriel Byrne and Christina Ricci. His latest feature film is Danny Boy, which received an international release last year.
KATHLEEN MacMAHON
Kathleen MacMahon is a novelist, short story writer and journalist. Her fourth novel, The Home Scar, was published in February 2023 to great critical acclaim. Her third novel, Nothing But Blue Sky came out in 2020 and was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction. Her short stories have been published in The Stinging Fly, The Irish Times and The Lonely Crowd, among others. Her work has been translated into over twenty languages. As well as writing fiction, Kathleen is a newspaper columnist and occasional broadcaster.