12 – Michelle Gallen

Welcome to Day 12 of our West Cork Literary Festival Advent Calendar. Our author today is Michelle Gallen.

Michelle Gallen was born in Tyrone in the 1970s and grew up during the Troubles a few miles from the border. She studied English Literature at Trinity College Dublin and Publishing at Stirling University. She has had work published in the Stinging Fly, Mslexia and others and won the Orange/NW Short Story Award. She suffered a devastating brain injury in her mid-20s which took her several years to recover from. She has now returned to writing in her 40s. Michelle lives in Dublin. Her debut novel Big Girl Small Town was published by John Murray in February 2020 and was shortlisted for the 2020 Comedy Women in Print prize for comic novels. Big Girl Small Town is currently shortlisted for First Novel Award in the Costa Book Awards 2020.

Michelle’s photo is by Deci Gallen.

Today’s video will unlock just after midnight on 12th December 2020.

About Our Literary Advent Calendar 2020

So many incredible books by Irish authors and authors living in Ireland were released this year, without the usual fanfare of festivals and launches. We’re delighted to celebrate a small selection of these authors here and we’ve invited twenty-four writers to submit a short video reading from their new books.

Visit our Advent Calendar here and join us each day from 1st to 24th December to unlock a new reading.

Each day’s video will also go live on YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook.