LITFEST: Inés Gregori Labarta (Catch-up)

Inés Gregori Labarta: The Three Lives of St Ciarán 

In conversation with Jenn Ashworth

‘Exciting and Provocative’ Toby Litt 

In this subversive and inventive first novel, a young girl, un-dead and un-alive, is brought to the shores of Iberia and nurtured to become the saviour of Madrid. A crippled boy, drowning in the waters of Loughmichnois, is called to preserve the secrets of a civilisation. And a nun who instigates the bombing of Neo Dublin inspires a futureless people to start afresh. Times of darkness, worlds seemingly beyond salvation, people who have never known joy. What do they have in common? Three entirely different versions of Saint Ciarán to restore hope, faith, and brightness for humankind.

‘Intricate, compelling and clever – I loved this book’ Jenn Ashworth

‘Bearing meaning through time like Cloud Atlas, as disruptive of gender as The Passion of New Eve, the ground tilled by St Ciarán’s multiple narrators is the urgent cultural interface of religion and the body’ Eoghan Walls, author of The Gospel of Orla 

Inés Gregori Labarta is a queer fiction writer and immigrant currently living in the northwest of England. Originally from Madrid, she's lived in Athlone, Edinburgh, Lancaster and Plymouth, before settling back in Lancaster. Her short stories have been published in a wide variety of publications including Extra Teeth, Toasted Cheese Literary Journal, Oranges Journal and the Lancashire Short Stories anthology. She teaches Creative Writing at Lancaster University. 

Jenn Ashworth is a novelist and teaches Creative Writing at Lancaster University. Her latest book is Ghosted. 

Photo of Inés Gregori Lanarta © Mary Tozer