Rachael English on what inspires her and balancing broadcasting and writing
For such a small island, we have an immense amount of talent, especially in the bookish world. We have been blessed with books from a wave of incredibly talented Irish authors in recent years.
From Marian Keyes to Sally Rooney and Donal Ryan to Colm TóibÃn, the sheer number of Irish authors excelling in the fictional world is remarkable to see.
Many of our best writers were celebrated during the launch of this year’s An Post Book Awards, including Rachael English.
The broadcaster’s book Whatever Happened to Birdy Troy? has been nominated for Ireland AM’s Popular Fiction Book of the Year. Speaking to Her.ie about her nomination, Rachael said it was such a pleasant surprise and honour.
Rachael said the nomination was something she didn’t expect but it was a “lovely surprise.”
Rachael is nominated alongside some huge household names including Marian Keyes and Graham Norton.
“They’re people you’ve read and admired over the years, so I wouldn’t have too many notions here about winning. However, it’s lovely to see the book in that company.”
Rachael reflected on how far the book industry in Ireland has come with the author encouraging readers to read what brings them joy.
“You don’t have to just like one type of book. There are different books for different times and you can like lots of different types of books. You can read crime and literary fiction and non-fiction, science fiction or romantic or whatever you like.
“Putting up these sort of artificial boundaries between books doesn’t do readers any favours and doesn’t do writers any favours.”
The books that inspired the RTÉ broadcaster
Books are there to offer us an escape from reality, they open our minds up to new worlds and people, but they also mark certain chapters of our lives, especially our teenage years.
Many of the standout books of Rachael’s life were ones she read during her teenage years.
“I remember reading a burst of books when I was 14 and they had the biggest impact on me. They were the first adult books I read like The Catcher in the Rye, 1984. I remember reading Edna O’Brien’s books around that the same time and being shocked that they’ve been banned because they didn’t seem that shocking to me.
“Those kind of books you read as a teenager will always stay with you in that sense,” Rachael added.
As a huge fan of Rachael’s work, both as a broadcaster and author, it’s inspiring to see how she juggles two major careers but the writer said it doesn’t come without struggle.
The Morning Ireland host said: “I did start to find that it wasn’t even the time that had become the issue. It was just the headspace. Switching from one to the other had just become more and more difficult.
“I am taking a break from writing at the moment, but I will return as I do have a partially written book gathering dust on the computer at the moment.
With Rachael English covering both the US and Irish elections, writing had to take a backseat
“I realised a few months ago that I just had to put it to one side for a little while. There was no point in trying to do something that started as a real joy if you find that it is becoming a bit of a chore.”
Rachael is hoping 2025 will be a year where she can return to writing but there’s no doubt her next novel will be worth the wait. Speaking about the inspiration behind her most recent book Whatever Happened to Birdy Troy? Rachael said she hopes her characters feel like people we know in our own lives.
“I think with Birdy Troy in particular, I think of the characters as girls I was at school with. These are girls who could have been in your class at school, the people you knew growing up.”
The RTÉ journalist said the response to her novels means the world, especially from her Irish readers.
“It means so much when you get a message from somebody who says that they could relate to a particular character or a particular incident because it reminded them of somebody or something in their own life.
“I like writing about the sort of people that I have known and the stories that I have come across. After all, we’re all interested in our own stories.”
Rachael English is shortlisted for Ireland AM Popular Fiction Book of the Year in the An Post Irish Book Awards. You can vote at irishbookawards.ie’
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