A Glassful of Letters

Evelyn Conlon is one of Ireland's most esteemed and best-loved writers. As well as a novelist she is a short-story writer and occasional essayist. Born in Ireland, she lived for a number of years in Australia and travelled extensively there and in Asia. She has edited four anthologies including Cutting the Night in Two. She has been writer in residence in numerous places, including Dublin City Libraries, University College Dublin, Jerusalem, and St. Paul, Minnesota. Skin of Dreams was shortlisted for Irish Novel of the Year; the title story of her collection Taking Scarlet as a Real Colour was performed at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival. Her novel Not the Same Sky was published by Wakefield Press, Australia in 2013. She has published four novels and three collections of short stories, has been widely anthologised, and her works have been translated into many languages including Tamil and Chinese. She is a member of Aosdána, an association of Ireland's most important and respected artists, and lives in Dublin.

A novel by esteemed Irish author Evelyn Conlon. Friendship, love, isolation, and one woman's quiet bravery are at the heart of this story from one of Ireland's most distinctive and energetic voices.

Set during the recent past, a period of unprecedented self-examination and rapidly changing social values in Ireland, this novel reflects a time of change, disruption, and progress, charting the journey taken by a tightly-woven group. By turns witty and profound, the novel skillfully switches between straight narrative and a chain of lively, intimate correspondence.


Conlon is one of Ireland's best-loved and most accomplished writers, as well as an important essayist and social commentator.


A Glassful of Letters was originally published in 1998 to strong reviews: the Irish Independent called it "Engaging and bursting with untrammelled humanity."