Wendy Erskine – författare

* Winner of the Butler Literary Award * Shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize and the Republic of Consciousness Prize * Longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award *'Gripping, wonderfully understated, oozes humanity, emotion and humour' - GuardianSet in the author’s native Belfast, the ten stories in Sweet Home lay bare the heartbreak and quiet tragedies that run under the surface of everyday lives. A lonely woman is fascinated by her niqab-wearing neighbours; a middle-aged teacher becomes obsessed with a young Gaelic football player; and an employer covers for his two employees caught having sex in a public toilet.Wendy Erskine, prize-winning author of The Benefactors, offers perfectly formed, brilliantly observed portraits of people trying to carve out a life for themselves, all the while being buffeted by the loss, grief and regret that come their way. Warm, compassionate and funny, Sweet Home captures life in contemporary East Belfast, in all of its forms.‘Wendy Erskine’s first collection, Sweet Home . . . is every bit as good as her early stories in the always astute Stinging Fly magazine promised’ - Jon McGregor, New StatesmanA Book of the Year in the Guardian, The White Review, Observer, New Statesman, TLS

AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVEL 2025SHORTLISTED FOR NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDSLONGLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE'What a joy it is to read'Michael Magee, author of Close to Home'I couldn't put this book down'Sheena Patel, author of I'm A Fan'Powerful, moving, compelling, utterly enthralling'Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13'A prodigiously talented author: funny and brutal by turns'Guardian'The style of Woolf but the heart of Dickens'Sunday Times'Vital reading'SpectatorMeet Frankie, Miriam and Bronagh: three very different women from Belfast, but all mothers to eighteen-year-old boys.Gorgeous Frankie, now married to a wealthy, older man, grew up in care. Miriam has recently lost her beloved husband Kahlil in ambiguous circumstances. Bronagh, the CEO of a children's services charity, loves celebrity and prestige. When their sons are accused of sexually assaulting a friend, Misty Johnston, they'll come together to protect their children, leveraging all the powers they possess. But on her side, Misty has the formidable matriarch, Nan D, and her father, taxi-driver Boogie: an alliance not so easily dismissed.Brutal, tender and rigorously intelligent, The Benefactors is a daring, multi-voice presentation of modern-day Northern Ireland. It is also very funny.

AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVEL 2025 SHORTLISTED FOR NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDSLONGLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE'The style of Woolf but the heart of Dickens . . . impressive'Sunday Times'Erskine's great gift is for character. Not a single figure in this novel feels contrived'Guardian'A writer of an unrivalled range of imaginative empathy'Financial Times'I couldn't put this book down'Sheena Patel, author of I'm a Fan'A powerful, moving, compelling, utterly enthralling debut'Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13'Perfectly pitched, surefooted, and charged with feeling'Colin Barrett, author of Wild Houses From the prize-winning author of Dance Move and Sweet Home, this is an astounding novel about intimate histories, class and money - and what being a parent means.Meet Frankie, Miriam and Bronagh: three very different women from Belfast, but all mothers to 18-year-old boys.Gorgeous Frankie, now married to a wealthy, older man, grew up in care. Miriam has recently lost her beloved husband Kahlil in ambiguous circumstances. Bronagh, the CEO of a children's services charity, loves celebrity and prestige. When their sons are accused of sexually assaulting a friend, Misty Johnston, they'll come together to protect their children, leveraging all the powers they possess. But on her side, Misty has the formidable matriarch, Nan D, and her father, taxi-driver Boogie: an alliance not so easily dismissed.Brutal, tender and rigorously intelligent, The Benefactors is a daring, polyphonic presentation of modern-day Northern Ireland. It is also very funny.⭐ A book of the year for: the Observer, the Guardian, the Daily Mail and The Irish Times⭐

⭐ Waterstones Irish Book of the Year ⭐ ⭐ Shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize ⭐ ⭐ Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction ⭐ 'What a joy it is to read'Michael Magee, author of Close to Home'I couldn't put this book down'Sheena Patel, author of I'm A Fan'Powerful, moving, compelling, utterly enthralling'Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13'A prodigiously talented author: funny and brutal by turns'Guardian'The style of Woolf but the heart of Dickens'Sunday Times'I miss it already . . . What a beautiful, hilarious blast of brilliance'Donal Ryan, author of Heart, Be at Peace'A cast of characters so vividly drawn it feels like you've known them all your life'Colin Walsh, author of Kala Misty thought of them as friends, the three local boys from wealthy homes. Until upstairs at a house party an act of violence takes place, with lines drawn and repercussions for them all. On her side, Misty has her devoted father Boogie, and the formidable matriarch Nan D. On theirs, the boys have their mothers - Frankie, Bronagh and Miriam will use the considerable power at their disposal to protect their own children.And all the while, anonymous voices across the city confide in us, sometimes offering us another perspective on what has happened, but more often telling their own stories - inviting us briefly into lives shaped by money and class, by family and love.⭐ An Observer Best Debut Novel ⭐ ⭐ A book of the year for: the Observer, the Guardian, the Daily Mail and The Irish Times⭐

'Daring, funny, heartbreaking' – Observer'One of the greats' - Lucy Caldwell, author of Intimacies'Comic brilliance' - Sinéad Gleeson, author of Constellations* As Read on BBC Radio 4 * Shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize * The Irish Times Books of the Year *From the prize-winning author of The Benefactors, Wendy Erskine’s Dance Move is about the hugeness of life as seen through glimpses of the everyday.Meet Drew Lord Haig, called on to sing an obscure hit from his youth at a paramilitary event. Meet Max as he recalls an eventful journey to a Christian film festival. And Mrs Dallesandro who dreams of being a teenager again as she sits in a tanning salon on her wedding anniversary. In these stories, Erskine's characters' wishes and hopes often fall short of their grasp.'Ingenious' - The Irish TimesShortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards Short Story of the Year