Colum McCann In Conversation 2025

Colum McCann in Conversation

Internationally acclaimed, award-winning Irish writer Colum McCann joins Byron Writers Festival for an exclusive evening of storytelling to discuss his latest novel, Twist. A propulsive and powerfully realist novel about men at sea and the world under the ocean, Twist is a meditation on the nature of narrative and truth from one of the great storytellers of our times. Colum will be joined in conversation by Mick O'Regan.

About Twist

Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist and playwright, is assigned to cover the underwater cables that carry the world’s information. The sum of human existence—words, images, transactions, memes, voices, viruses—travels through the tiny fiber-optic tubes. But sometimes the tubes break, at an unfathomable depth.

Fennell’s journey brings him to the west coast of Africa, where he uncovers a story about the raw human labor behind the dazzling veneer of the technological world. He meets a fellow Irishman, John Conway, the chief of mission on a cable repair ship. The mysterious Conway is a skilled engineer and a freediver capable of reaching extraordinary depths. He is also in love with a South African actress, Zanele, who must leave to go on her own literary adventure to London.

When the ship is sent up the coast to repair a series of major underwater breaks, both men learn that the very cables they seek to fix carry the news that may cause their lives to unravel. At sea, they are forced to confront the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging, and the perils of our severed connections. Can we, in our fractured world, reweave ourselves out of the thin, broken threads of our pasts? Can the ruptured things awaken us from our despair?

An International Dublin Literary Prize and USA National Book Award winner, don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear from the New York Times best-seller at A&I Hall, Bangalow.

About Colum

Colum McCann is the internationally bestselling author of the novels Apeirogon, TransAtlantic, Let the Great World Spin, Zoli, Dancer, This Side of Brightness, and Songdogs, as well as three critically acclaimed story collections and the nonfiction books Letters to a Young Writer and American Mother. A regular contributor to The New York Times, he lives with his family in New York City. He is the co-founder of the global non-profit organization Narrative 4, which operates in 42 countries and uses storytelling to propel community action and change.

When: Wednesday 7 May, 6:30pm (Pocket Curries and bar available from 5:30pm)

Doors open: 5.30 pm - arrive early to grab a bite & beverage and settle in

Where: A&I Hall, Station St Bangalow