Drumshanbo-set short story shortlisted for An Post Book Awards 2023

Leitrim is well-represented in this year’s An Post Book Awards 2023, with author Jennifer McMahon ‘In the Same Darkness’ shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Short Story of the Year. 

Originally from Cork, Jennifer is based in Wexford but is in Leitrim, where she feels “grounded” and “at home”. 

“The first time I went to Leitrim, I just felt a really strong spiritual connection. I found it inspiring. It’s just such a peaceful and quiet place. People are so kind. 

“And the whole scenario with its mountains, lakes…there is so much there that draws my heart out”, she told the Leitrim Observer. 

Jennifer says Leitrim is quite an inspiration and is well-represented in her writing. 

‘In the Same Darkness’ shortlisted short story is set in Drumshanbo, one of the writer’s favourite places in the world.  

“It is a story about loss and grief. It’s not a bright and cheery story, but it’s a real one. And I think a lot of people can feel related to it,” she said.

Jennifer was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Awards and nominated at the Best of the Net. The Cork-born author won both the Bray Literary Festival and the Books Ireland Magazine flash fiction competitions, second place in the Oxford Prize (winter 2023) and was a Top ten Finalist in the Oxford Prize (summer 2022). 

The award-winning author shares that writing has been a dream since childhood, but she decided to dedicate herself entirely to it in the last few years. 

“It was in the last five years that I started to focus on literary fiction, and if it’s something you want to succeed at, you can’t stop. You have to commit to it fully,” she said. 

“I have to devote myself to my craft and to keep improving it. And that’s something very important to me… to learn the next thing, to make what I write today better than what I wrote yesterday. 

“I usually start at 4am every day, and I write most of the day with breaks in between. I’m also working on several projects and a new novel that will be published soon. 

“In the last two years, I’ve devoted everything to writing and to be the best writer I can possibly be,” Jennifer said. 

Her current project is 'Queen Of Cork City', and 'If We Could But Shine' will be going on submission this month. She has also been working on 'Waters So Still', another novel set in Drumshanbo.

“I love writing. I write for the sake of the art. I’m writing for myself and for the sake of creating something beautiful. Writing is about finding out where my heart is. 

“I often don’t know what I think about things until I write them. So I make this part of a story, which helps me learn more about myself,” she shared with the Leitrim Observer.

Voting for the ‘In the Same Darkness’ shortlisted Drumshanbo-set short story for this year’s An Post Book Awards 2023 is closing today, November 09.

Readers can vote for their favourite short stories, books, and poems of the year at https://www.irishbookawards.ie/vote/. 

“It would be lovely if Leitrim people could support and spread the story. But they should consider all shortlisted stories with literary merits and vote with their hearts”, she said.