Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year

Shortlist 2023

Though the Bodies Fall

By Noel O'Regan

Micheál Burns lives alone in his family’s bungalow at the end of Kerry Head in Ireland. It is a picturesque place, but the cliffs have a darker side to them: for generations they have been a suicide black spot. Micheál’s mother saw the saving of these lost souls – these visitors – as her spiritual duty, and now, in the wreckage of his life, Micheál finds himself continuing her work. When his sisters tell him that they want to sell the land, he must choose between his siblings and the visitors, a future or a past. 

About Noel O'Regan ...

Noel O’Regan was raised in Co. Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. He is the recipient of a number of prizes, including a 2022 Arts Council Next Generation Artist Award. His fiction has been published in the Stinging Fly, Ambit and the London Magazine. 

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