Kathleen MacMahon

Kathleen MacMahon is a radio and television journalist who worked with Ireland's national broadcaster, RTÉ, before becoming a best-selling author of fiction. She has been a Richard and Judy choice in the UK.

Kathleen MacMahon
Websitehttp://kathleenmacmahon.com/

Childhood and family

Born in Dublin, MacMahon is the granddaughter of writer Mary Lavin and the niece of Caroline Walsh, the literary editor of The Irish Times. Her father was Des MacMahon and her mother Valdi Lavin, who died in November 2010.[1] MacMahon has a brother and sister, Kevin and Meg. MacMahon attended Mount Anville Secondary School in Dublin after her family returned to Ireland from Nicaragua and Brazil.[2]

Career

She worked for RTÉ as a radio and television journalist for 15 years before getting her first book published. While working for Morning Ireland MacMahon won a National Media Award for News and Current Affairs. Five of her years in radio were spent reporting for the RTÉ News at One programme. She made the news herself when the publisher Little, Brown paid £600,000 for the English rights of her first two books.[3]

The first book has been translated into 20 languages and was shortlisted for a number of awards including the Kerry Group Irish Book of the Year Award, two Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards and the RTÉ Liveline listener's poll for Book of the Year 2012. Her second book has been a Richard and Judy choice in the UK.

MacMahon was unimpressed with the choice of a woman for the cover of her third book, Nothing But Blue Sky, saying: "If they had told me in advance... I'd have had a freak out".[4]

She has described her approach to writing as follows: "You are just telling the story you want to tell, digging into the issues and themes that interest you".[4]

Personal life

MacMahon lives in Irishtown, Dublin with her husband Mark and their twin daughters.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Bibliography
  • This Is How It Ends (2012)
  • The Long Hot Summer (2015)
  • 'Nothing But Blue Sky (2020)

References and sources
  1. "MacMAHON, Valdi : Death notice". Irish Times Family Notices. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  2. "Kathleen MacMahon Interview". RTE.ie. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  3. Cowdrey, Katherine (22 October 2018). "Kathleen MacMahon moves to Penguin Ireland". The Bookseller. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  4. McKervey, Henrietta (30 May 2020). "Judging a book by its cover: how a design can make or break a writer's success". Irish Independent. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  5. Unknown (3 November 2013). "Me, Myself & I: Kathleen MacMahon, Author". Independent.ie. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  6. "Kathleen MacMahon". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  7. "Writer's Block with Kathleen MacMahon". The Gloss Magazine. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  8. "This Is How It Ends, Kathleen MacMahon". Writing.ie. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  9. "Kathleen MacMahon Books". Hachette Australia. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  10. Saturday (8 August 2015). "Book review: The Long Hot Summer". irishexaminer.com. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  11. "Obituaries 5th July 2014". Meath Chronicle. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  12. Dwyer, Ciara (30 April 2012). "now kathleen is the big news". Independent.ie. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
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