Hot Press Interview

Photo by Manuel Ruiz

Her Kind:  'A beautifully absorbing novel, illuminating the remarkable story of a woman whose life has been since subsumed by folklore. Highly Recommended.' 

Hot Press - Roisin Dwyer 

Here's an excerpt from the recent Hot Press Interview with Roisin Dwyer...

Live From the Witch Trials

A re-imagining of the events leading to Ireland’s first witch trial, Niamh Boyce’s Her Kind is a brilliantly compelling effort.

When you think of medieval women you think of cowed, subservient people,” says Niamh Boyce, sitting in Cassidy’s Hotel, where we’re discussing her new work Her Kind. “Alice Kyteler was incredibly powerful. She was one of the first money lenders and a property owner. She was a mature older woman who had four husbands. If she existed, how many others that we don’t know about did? We know a version of history which the powerful wanted us to know.”.

Her Kind – the title is a nod to the Anne Sexton poem – is an historical reimagining of the events leading to Ireland’s first witch trial, told primarily through the story of Alice’s servant Petronelle..... Read the full Article Here.

US edition available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo

Publication Week News

Greetings from Rescue Remedy Season, also known as publication week :) 

Amazing news... 

Her Kind was shortlisted by the Irish jury for the EU Prize for Literature. It was nominated with Jan Carson’s The Fire Starters, Catholic Boy by Rosemary Jenkinson, The Watch House by Bernie McGill. 

Review... I was thrilled to read Anna Carey's review in the Irish Times. You spend years, in this case five, working alone on a book, putting your heart into it - sending it out in the world can be a pretty terrifying experience. So it was wonderful to read ... '14th century Kilkenny is so evocative and atmospheric the reader can almost taste the honeycombs in Petronelle’s carefully tended hives and feel the heavy animal pelts that line Alice’s secret chamber...' the full review can be read Here.

Irish Times Interview....

I was interviewed by Rosita Boland in Athy last week - 'historically, it was always women who were deemed to be witches, and considered to be dangerous personages, especially when they showed any evidence of independence ... the full interview can be read Here

The Irish Times

Thank you readers, and future readers, booksellers and fellow writers, journalists and reviewers - if you didn't love books, the world would be an arid, lonely place. 

Her Kind

Published by Penguin Random House

The release date for my novel based on the Kilkenny Witchcraft trials is nearing, its the 4th April! 

The book is inspired by events in Kilkenny in 1324, by a trial that arose after moneylender Dame Alice Kytler was accused of witchcraft by Bishop Ledrede. She was a very wealthy business woman with debtors, and relations, in high places - records show she had lent King Edward (half of Kilkennie was governed by the crown in those days) a princely five hundred pounds. There's no record of his honoring that payment... but more of all that later. 

The case is historically significant for a number of reasons, it predates the Witch hunts of the 16th Century by two hundred years, yet the accusations made against Alice and her household, are almost identical to those that were to follow. It marks a significant moment in witch trial history, one where sorcery was elevated from being a petty to a much more serious, heretical crime - a change that had significant long term consequences... But, the heart of my book are the people involved in the case, Richard Ledrede, Dame Alice Kytler and her maid Petronelle ... 

Her Kind is available to pre-order Here

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The novel also got a mention in this piece...

'Six Irish Fiction Titles to look out for in 2019' 

                                                                           
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For anyone interested in hearing more in the meantime - I wrote an article about the background to the trial for Womankind's Gothic edition....

Womankind #5

Irish Writers Centre Workshops

I'm delighted to be back teaching in the Irish Writers Centre this Spring - I love teaching there - I first set foot in the Centre as an inaugural Novel Fair Winner, and ended up being published by Penguin Ireland as a result. That was The Herbalist, and my new book Her Kind (about the Kilkenny witchcraft trial) will also be published by Penguin Random House next April. I am teaching two courses, one runs over a few weeks, and is aimed at beginners, or those of you beginning again. The second reflects my interest in turning fact into fiction, as my two novels were both based on real life trials....   

Six Week Starter Kit
'This course is suitable for those new to writing, or interested in getting back to writing. Fun but focused, the core of this course will be weekly writing exercises. Through these, participants will create, and shape new fictions. These might grow into flash pieces, short stories, monologues, rants or chapters. Each writer will work towards completing their piece over the course of the six weeks. Basic character development, voice, point of view, story and setting will also be discussed.' 
To book - click here 


From Fact to Fiction (One Day)
Do you have a story you always wanted to tell? Something that really happened but you don't know how to handle the material? This workshop will explore how true stories can inspire a work of fiction. Participants will look at character, voice, setting, first draft, research, 'how much truth, how much fiction,' and revision. The course is suitable for both beginners and those who have been writing for a while. All you need is a pen and notebook.
To book - click here

The Book Show - Historical Fiction

Both of my novels, The Herbalist and Her Kind (available for pre-order here!) were based on legal trials from another century. The Herbalist was inspired by the case of Don Robert Rodriguez de Vere in 1940's Athy, and Her Kind explores Kilkenny's infamous sorcery trial - the case of Dame Alice Kytler. 

My interest in hidden stories, in excavating silenced voices has led me to write books are often seen as historical, or more recently as bio-fiction. Like most writers, I just write what fascinates me, and am sometimes surprised at the labels attached to the finished book. This is just one of the subjects discussed on The Book Show tonight. 

The show is hosted by novelist and poet, Nuala O Connor. The guests are Paul Lynch, Andrew Miller and myself. We'll be discussing historical fiction, language, research and whether historical fiction has an image problem! Listen in, at 7pm or catch the podcast later.

For more - check out The Book Show Website.