LUKE CASSIDY

IN CONVERSATION WITH WENDY ERSKINE

TO DISCUSS HIS DEBUT NOVEL

‘IRON ANNIE’

IRON ANNIE by Luke Cassidy

Shortlisted FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE 2022

‘This year’s most ambitious and well-written debut’ Irish Independent

When Dundalk underworld regular Aoife brings the wild and magnetic Annie to the Town, her desire to love and cling to this dangerous stranger culminates in a road trip through Britain to dispose of ten kilos of cocaine for her business partner, The Rat King. But when Annie decides not to return to Ireland, Aoife makes a decision that changes everything.

Tender, tragic but ultimately hopeful, Iron Annie is a breakneck journey that crackles with energy, warmth and heart, and marks the arrival of a truly original new voice in literary fiction.

‘Written in an exhilarating, lyrical vernacular, in much the way of Anna Burns, Kevin Barry or even Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting’ Daily Mail

Luke Cassidy is a writer from Dundalk. His debut novel, Iron Annie, was published by Bloomsbury in 2021. He has been published in the Irish Times, Le Monde Diplomatique, Literary Hub, and LA Review of Books, amongst others. He has recently contributed a short story to the New Island Books anthology of writing from the Irish border region, The New Frontier, and adapted Iron Annie for the stage, which toured Ireland in late 2021 and will have more dates in Ireland in the UK in Summer 2022.