The Laureate says “Edith is an engrossing and sensitive portrait of the writer Edith Somerville during the War of Independence when her writing partner Violet Ross is dead and her own career as a writer not flourishing. It is a portrait of a sensitive, solitary figure in a time of turmoil, of a woman striking out as an artist in a time when there were many barriers”.

Martina Devlin has written 11 books, including the novels About Sisterland and The House Where It Happened, and the short story collection Truth & Dare. Her latest book Edith: A Novel – about the writer Edith Somerville – will be published by the Lilliput Press in May. Prizes include the Royal Society of Literature’s V.S. Pritchett Prize and a Hennessy Literary Award. She writes a weekly current affairs column for the Irish Independent and has been named National Newspapers of Ireland commentator of the year. Martina is the first holder of a PhD in literary practice from Trinity College Dublin, where she is currently an adjunct lecturer in Irish literature. She presents the City of Books podcast, sponsored by the Arts Council and supported by Dublin UNESCO City of Literature and the Museum of Literature Ireland.