‘It’s not just shameful. It is humiliating’: four celebrated authors on their hopes and fears before the 2024 US election
With the contest on a knife-edge, four award-winning writers reflect on the state of the nation, their personal feelings about Harris and Trump, and what the future holds
February 2021
Books that made me
Colum McCann: 'I’ve never finished Finnegans Wake by James Joyce – I’ve dabbled in it'
The novelist on the influence of Benedict Kiely, the comforts of Louise Erdrich’s Tracks and feeling changed by Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man
February 2020
The sky’s the limit: why together we’re greater than the sum of our parts
From bats to honeybees, many living things exhibit group capabilities way beyond those of any one individual. How can this principle of emergence help us understand the world?
December 2019
How to be hopeful
How to be hopeful: Colum McCann on the broken violin that played in a refugee camp
Music can be a form of resistance – but an unstrung violin didn’t hold much promise. Then it was fixed, a plume of dust rose, and the fiddler began to play
May 2017
So you want to be a writer? Essential tips for aspiring novelists
How to write a killer opening line. Why Google is not research. When to rip it up and start again. Whatever you do, just write! Lessons from acclaimed novelist and creative writing professor Colum McCann
September 2015
Save Stormont – and Northern Ireland – as an example to the world
Colum McCann
The fallout from an assembly failure would be felt around the globe, and the peace process is one of Ireland’s greatest assets. But who will nurture it?
May 2014
Northern Ireland's peace is delicately poised – it needs to look forward
Colum McCann
Colum McCann: The anniversary of the deadliest day of the Troubles should be a reminder that peace is not static
