Colm Tóibín writes about the loyalties and silences that shape a life. His novels, stories and criticism offer plenty of reasons to hear him speak, whether you arrived through a film adaptation, a favourite fictional family or the close attention of a short story.
Tóibín’s writing includes novels, short-story collections and criticism. His books range from the lives of fictional families to novels centred on writers, including The Magician. He has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, received the David Cohen Prize for Literature in 2021, and served as Laureate for Irish Fiction from 2022 to 2024.
Picador published The Bridge in September 2026. The short novel follows a father and son in the Pyrenees. Earlier that year, in March, the publisher issued The News from Dublin, a collection moving across Ireland, Spain and the Americas. Family relationships, ordinary lives and the weight of the past connect those stories.
For a reader of Tóibín, a live conversation offers time to sit with the choices behind the writing: the moment a character speaks, the things a family leaves unsaid, or the distance between someone’s outward life and what they feel. You can bring a strong response to one story without needing to have read the whole catalogue.
Where to start with their books
Brooklyn
Eilis Lacey leaves 1950s Ireland for work in America, then faces a choice between the life she has begun and the home she left. This is a starting point for readers interested in migration, belonging and the promises people make.
Long Island
The sequel returns to Eilis after twenty years of marriage, when a stranger’s revelation unsettles her life and draws her thoughts towards Ireland. Read it after the earlier novel if you want to follow the choices of the same woman over time.
The Master
Tóibín imagines Henry James after the failure of his play, following a writer whose artistic life and personal longings pull against one another. Choose it if hearing a novelist discuss another novelist is part of the attraction of a festival visit.
Festival appearances
For tickets, use the host festival’s official box office. Confirm the date, venue and access details before paying.
At Hay on 30 May, Tóibín discussed the collection with Toby Lichtig, the Times Literary Supplement’s politics and fiction editor, on the Discovery Stage. Their conversation explored family relationships, the past and ordinary lives. A reader who had first met him through a novel could hear him discussing the smaller scale of a story.
Edinburgh’s conversation followed on 28 August at Venue T, with the same collection at its centre. The two visits placed his shorter fiction before spring and late-summer audiences. For anyone who enjoys hearing a writer talk about how lives take shape on the page, the shared book gave those conversations a direct reading companion.
Where to see them next
No 2027 appearances announced yet. Check the festival guides for programme dates.
Plan your trip
Choose one story before the journey and give yourself a little time afterwards to think about it again. Going with a friend who has chosen a different story can make the train home part of the pleasure: compare which relationship or silence stayed with you, without trying to agree on a verdict.
Use the local guide to choose a base close enough to make an unhurried evening possible. A conversation about fiction is easier to enjoy when the last part of it is not competing with a tight connection home.
The 2026 programmes featured Colm Tóibín at Edinburgh International Book Festival, Hay Festival; follow those guides for event information and practical visit details.
Do I need to read all the novels first?
No complete reading list is needed to enjoy hearing a novelist. Pick one book that attracts you, or one story if your reading time is short, and let that be your connection with the conversation.
Were the 2026 events about short stories?
Yes, the collection was the focus of those conversations. It gives a reader who knows the longer fiction a chance to hear about a different form, with a single story offering a manageable way to read beforehand.
How do I buy tickets for a later visit?
Book with the host festival’s official box office. Choose the conversation you want before arranging your travel, and contact the organiser about access or ticket questions that affect your ability to enjoy the session.
