This week on The Write Question, host Lauren Korn speaks with Irish novelist Kevin Barry about The Heart in Winter (available in paperback from Vintage Books). The novel follows young lovers Tom Rourke and Polly Gillespie in Butte, Montana, in the 1890s. The Guardian called it “A wedding of Cormac McCarthy with Flann O’Brien; a western but also the most Irish of novels; a tragedy written as farce . . . inspiring joy with every incident, every concept, every sentence,” and novelist Anne Enright called it “An absolute belter of a book!”
Note: Kevin is the keynote speaker at this year’s inaugural Festival of Irish Writing, being held October 3-4, 2025, in Butte, Montana, created and hosted by Dear Butte, a non-profit, monthly artist-in-residence program. For more information about the Festival of Irish Writing and Kevin’s appearances, go to DearButte.org.
This conversation has been edited for time and was recorded before the release of the hardcover in 2024; Montana Public Radio aired an excerpt from that conversation in August of that year.
About Kevin:
Kevin Barry is the author of the novels The Heart in Winter, Night Boat to Tangier, Beatlebone, and City of Bohane, as well as three story collections, including That Old Country Music. His stories and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta, and elsewhere. He also works as a playwright and screenwriter and lives in County Sligo, Ireland.
Mentioned in this episode:
Badlands and Days of Heaven, films produced and directed by Terrence Mallick
Lauren Korn recommends:
The Heart in Winter (Vintage Books), City of Bohane (Graywolf Press), and That Old Country Music: Stories (Anchor Books) written by Kevin Barry
Pity the Beast by Robin McLean (And Other Stories)
How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang (Riverhead Books)
The Trace by Forrest Gander (New Directions)
Outlawed by Anna North (Bloomsbury Publishing)
The Cold Millions by Jess Walter (HarperCollins)
Haints Stay by Colin Winnette (Two Dollar Radio, out of print)
Beautyland (Picador; Farrar, Straus and Giroux) and Exit Zero: Stories (FSG Originals) by Marie Helene Bertino
Normal People (Crown); Conversations with Friends (Crown); Beautiful World, Where Are You (Picador); and Intermezzo (Picador) by Sally Rooney
—
The Write Question team for this episode was Lauren Korn, host, co-producer, and editor; and Chris Moyles, co-producer, editor, and sound engineer. This episode is supported by Bookworks of Whitefish, offering new books of all genres, stationery, and puzzles. Open 11AM to 6PM Monday through Saturday. Located in downtown Whitefish, Montana, in the Third & Spokane Building.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss.
Funding for The Write Question comes from Humanities Montana; members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
