Eimear Ryan
Research Profile
Eimear Ryan
Biography
Eimear Ryan is the author of a novel, Holding Her Breath (Penguin Sandycove, 2021), and a memoir, The Grass Ceiling (Penguin Sandycove, 2023). Other writing has appeared in Granta, The Dublin Review, The Stinging Fly, Winter Papers, Lit Hub, and elsewhere. She is a co-founder and editor of Banshee literary journal and its publishing imprint, Banshee Press. From Co. Tipperary, she now lives in Cork city.
Research Interests
My main research interests are centred around the practice of creative writing, particularly the novel, the short story, and memoir. As a creative practitioner, researcher and former athlete, I'm also interested in women in sport and have written extensively in this area.
A non-exhaustive list of my research interests includes: creative writing (fiction and memoir); women in sport; writing the body; embedded narratives in the novel; page to screen adaptation; cultural memory and transmission.
A non-exhaustive list of my research interests includes: creative writing (fiction and memoir); women in sport; writing the body; embedded narratives in the novel; page to screen adaptation; cultural memory and transmission.
Books
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2023) | The Grass Ceiling: On Being a Woman in Sport.
Eimear Ryan (2023) The Grass Ceiling: On Being a Woman in Sport. Dublin: Penguin Sandycove. [ Publisher's Version] [Details] |
|
| (2021) | Holding Her Breath.
Eimear Ryan (2021) Holding Her Breath. Dublin: Penguin Sandycove. [ Publisher's Version] [Details] |
Book Chapters
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2018) | 'Body Clock'
Eimear Ryan (2018) 'Body Clock' In: Sarah Gilmartin & Declan Meade (eds). Stinging Fly Stories. Dublin: Stinging Fly Press. [ Publisher's Version] [Details] |
|
| (2016) | 'The Fear of Winning'
Eimear Ryan (2016) 'The Fear of Winning' In: Kevin Barry & Olivia Smith (eds). Winter Papers vol. 2. Sligo: Curlew Editions. [ Publisher's Version] [Details] |
|
| (2015) | 'Lane In Stay'
Eimear Ryan (2015) 'Lane In Stay' In: Sinéad Gleeson (eds). The Long Gaze Back: An Anthology of Irish Women Writers. Dublin: New Island. [ Publisher's Version] [Details] |
|
| (2013) | 'The Recital'
Eimear Ryan (2013) 'The Recital' In: Kevin Barry (eds). Town & Country: New Irish Short Stories. London: Faber & Faber. [ Publisher's Version] [Details] |
Edited Books
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2025) | Tenterhooks by Claire-Lise Kieffer
Eimear Ryan (Ed.). (2025) Tenterhooks by Claire-Lise Kieffer Cork: Banshee Press. [ Publisher's Version] [Details] |
|
| (2023) | Penelope Unbound by Mary Morrissy
Eimear Ryan (Ed.). (2023) Penelope Unbound by Mary Morrissy Cork: Banshee Press. [ Publisher's Version] [Details] |
|
| (2022) | Pacemaker by David Toms
Eimear Ryan (Ed.). (2022) Pacemaker by David Toms Cork: Banshee Press. [ Publisher's Version] [Details] |
|
| (2021) | I Want to Know That I Will Be Okay by Deirdre Sullivan
Laura Cassidy, Claire Hennessy & Eimear Ryan (Ed.). (2021) I Want to Know That I Will Be Okay by Deirdre Sullivan Cork: Banshee Press. [ Publisher's Version] [Details] |
|
| (2019) | Paris Syndrome by Lucy Sweeney Byrne
Laura Cassidy, Claire Hennessy & Eimear Ryan (Ed.). (2019) Paris Syndrome by Lucy Sweeney Byrne Cork: Banshee Press. [ Publisher's Version] [Details] |
Honours and Awards
| Year | Title | Awarding Body | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Best Small Press (shortlisted) | British Book Awards | |
| 2023 | Sports Book of the Year | An Post Irish Book Awards | |
| 2022 | Kate O'Brien Award (shortlisted) | Limerick Literary Festival | |
| 2022 | John McGahern Prize (shortlisted) | University of Liverpool |
Education
| Year | Institution | Qualification | Subject | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Dublin City University | BA | Journalism | |
| 2013 | Trinity College Dublin | M.Phil | Creative Writing |
Teaching Interests
My main teaching interest is in creative writing, with a focus on fiction and memoir. My teaching is very much informed by my work as a publisher, editor and journalist. A non-exhaustive list of my teaching interests includes: contemporary American short fiction; editing and publishing; trends in contemporary Irish literature; pop culture, video games and the internet in contemporary fiction; genre fiction.
I primarily teach EN6032: Serving the Idea and EN6033: Writing the Self on the MA in Creative Writing. I have also delivered lectures for EN6034: The Business of Writing (EN6034), EN1103: Problems in Literature and EN1101: Contexts The Production and Reception of Literature and Film.
Writers that regularly appear on my reading lists include Rumaan Alam, Kevin Barry, Alexander Chee, John Cheever, Anne Enright, Roxane Gay, Amy Hempel, Ben Lerner, Deborah Levy, Carmen Maria Machado, Janet Malcolm, Sarah Manguso, Lorrie Moore, Maggie Nelson, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Karen Russell, George Saunders, Leanne Shapton, Brandon Taylor, Jia Tolentino, Tobias Wolff and ZZ Packer.
I primarily teach EN6032: Serving the Idea and EN6033: Writing the Self on the MA in Creative Writing. I have also delivered lectures for EN6034: The Business of Writing (EN6034), EN1103: Problems in Literature and EN1101: Contexts The Production and Reception of Literature and Film.
Writers that regularly appear on my reading lists include Rumaan Alam, Kevin Barry, Alexander Chee, John Cheever, Anne Enright, Roxane Gay, Amy Hempel, Ben Lerner, Deborah Levy, Carmen Maria Machado, Janet Malcolm, Sarah Manguso, Lorrie Moore, Maggie Nelson, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Karen Russell, George Saunders, Leanne Shapton, Brandon Taylor, Jia Tolentino, Tobias Wolff and ZZ Packer.