Louise Kennedy announced as the 2027 IPUT Writer-in-Residence at Wilton Park, Dublin

Pictured above:
(L-R) Patrick McCabe, the 2026 IPUT Writer-in-Residence at Wilton Park; Louise Kennedy, the 2027 IPUT Writer-in-Residence at Wilton Park and Niall Gaffney, Chief Executive of IPUT Real Estate

Acclaimed Irish writer Louise Kennedy (b.1966) has been announced as the 2027 IPUT Writer-in-Residence at Wilton Park as selected by a committee chaired by Colm Tóibín.

The award provides a year-long residency in a refurbished Georgian apartment overlooking Wilton Park, together with a generous stipend, enabling the recipient to live and write in Dublin City.

Kennedy will become IPUT’s third Writer-in-Residence, succeeding Patrick McCabe in 2026 and inaugural recipient, Naoise Dolan in 2025. Based in Sligo, she will move to Dublin to take up the residency in January 2027.

The apartment includes a dedicated writer’s study, with views across Wilton Park towards the Grand Canal and the statue of Patrick Kavanagh. It is adjacent to Mary Lavin Place, the first public square in Ireland named in honour of an Irish woman writer, in a neighbourhood long associated with Dublin’s literary life and often known as Baggotonia.

Kennedy grew up a few miles from Belfast. Her acclaimed debut short-story collection, The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac, won the John McGahern Prize. Her debut novel, Trespasses, became a Sunday Times bestseller and has been translated into more than twenty languages.

Trespasses won the Eason Novel of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2022, Book of the Year for Debut Fiction at the British Book Awards and the McKitterick Prize in 2023. It was also shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize and was adapted into a Channel 4 television series in 2025.

Her second novel, Stations, was published in September 2026 to widespread acclaim and has been shortlisted in two categories at this year’s An Post Irish Book Awards. Before beginning her writing career, Kennedy spent almost thirty years working as a chef.

The 2026 residency was awarded to Patrick McCabe and the inaugural residency in 2025 was awarded to Naoise Dolan.

The IPUT Writer-in-Residence includes a generous stipend making it one of the most valuable literary awards in Ireland. It is given on an annual basis to a published writer, enabling them to live and make work in Dublin, and contribute to the life of the city, a UNESCO World City of Literature. The Residency is selected by a committee chaired by Colm Tóibín, including publicist Cormac Kinsella and members of IPUT.

According to Niall Gaffney, CEO of IPUT Real Estate:

We are delighted to welcome Louise Kennedy as our third Writer-in-Residence. We hope that Wilton Park and Mary Lavin Place, with their rich literary connections, will offer her both a welcoming home and inspiration for her writing. We established the residency in the belief that arts and culture are essential to a thriving city, and we look forward to hosting events with Louise next year.

According to Colm Tóibín:

Louise Kennedy is rightly admired for the emotional accuracy with which she creates characters and scenes, for the energy and honesty in her writing, and for the originality of her narrative voice. It is marvellous that she is, as a guest of IPUT, coming to live and work beside the Grand Canal.

Commenting on her award, Louise Kennedy said:

I am stunned to be awarded this unique and incredibly generous residency. Wilton Park is a vibrant, exciting new community in a gorgeous corner of Dublin and I can hardly believe I’ll get to spend a whole year writing there. I’m so very grateful to IPUT and everyone involved in the selection process. Bring on January!