Fenagh author impresses at Malta Book Festival

Nicola Kearns’ novels primarily set in Malta, ‘Under a Maltese Sky’, ‘The Azure Window’, and ‘All the Seas Between’, awarded her an invitation to be part of the Malta Book Festival which ran for a week in November of this year.

The only other Irish author invited to this event was John Boyne, author of ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.’

“We both gave talks on our writing experience and read from excerpts from our novels,” Nicola told the Leitrim Observer, “but of course John Boyne had a very theatrical performance, as he is much more famous than I, whereas mine was more low-key!”

However, the experience brought two major accomplishments to our own Fenagh author – as during the book festival, Nicola was approached by a Maltese and Italian publisher who will be taking her under their wing and publishing her novels from now on.

Another achievement was that the infamous Miller Publishers in Malta have begun distributing Nicola’s novels throughout all reputable bookshops in both Malta and Italy.

“This was a huge deal for me,” Nicola explains, “as until now, despite my books reaching Number 1 in Historical Fiction in Italy, they were never available to buy in bookshops there. Now they will be; which is fantastic.”

The Book Festival was held during one of the worst storms seen in Malta for years. “I thought the roof was going to come off the building that the event was housed in with the hurricane. The streets were flooded with torrential rain and the waves were so high and ferocious that they even reached inside buses passing by.

“It certainly was not the glamorous occasion it may seem, especially as I carried all the books to Malta by myself, including funding all the costs alone, but thankfully it paid off and I met some wonderful people and made great connections in the writing world.”

Nicola is presently writing her fourth novel, this time set in Ireland during the Civil War.

Nicola gives us a snippet of the book, saying “This book highlights the position women played in the war, which has been mostly overlooked. Some parts of the novel are not an easy read, because some of the things women suffered then are quite gruesome. There is a bit of time travel involved also, when a woman a hundred years later, discovers an injustice and sets out to clear the name of a young woman falsely imprisoned.”

Nicola Kearns’ three novels (The Malta Saga) each reached Number One on Amazon.

Nicola has been published in multiple anthologies and magazines over the years, and is a requested speaker on radio, podcasts and in the public media.

Nicola’s novels can be bought on www.Amazon.co.uk 

Nicola runs writing workshops and coaching sessions from her cottage in Fenagh. You can check out Nicola's writing events at www.leitrimwritingcottage.com