Author, Actor and Director Eimear McBride on the delayed gratification of her first novel, the ‘classic combination’ of sex and death and why we should celebrate female writers tackling difficult topics and themes.

Eimear trained as an actor before writing her first novel, A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, which took nine years to find a publisher but subsequently won the 2014 Women’s Prize for Fiction, as well as the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, the Goldsmiths Prize, and the Desmond Elliott Prize. Eimear’s second novel, The Lesser Bohemians, won the 2016 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award. Strange Hotel, her third novel, was published in 2020 and her latest release The City Changes Its Face is out in February 2025. In 2022, Eimear wrote and directed A Very Short Film About Longing (DMC/BBC Film) which was screened at the 2023 London Film Festival, and she also writes and reviews for the Guardian, New Statesman and the TLS.

Eimear’s book choices are:
** The Country Girls by Edna O’Brien
** Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
** Save Me the Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald
** The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin
** Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen

Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season eight of the Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and continues to champion the very best books written by women.

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You can buy all books mentioned from our dedicated shelf on Bookshop.org - every purchase supports the work of the Women's Prize Trust and independent bookshops.

This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.