Since the publication of her debut, Pond, in 2015, Claire-Louise Bennett has quietly become one of the most revered writers at work in Ireland today. Her second book, the 2021 novel Checkout 19, was a New York Times top 10 book of the year. Her latest book, Big Kiss, Bye-Bye, is published by the discerning Fitzcarraldo Editions, which has a habit of publishing writers that go on to win Nobel Prizes (laureates Annie Ernaux and Jon Fosse are on their very select list).
Bennett grew up in working-class Wiltshire in England, and studied literature and drama at the University of Roehampton London before moving to Galway, where she has lived for more than two decades. We meet in the suburb of Oranmore, in a newly opened restaurant called Fawn. Bennett is warm and open, brimming with energy, curiosity and an honest desire to connect, much like her latest book.
Big Kiss, Bye-Bye follows the relationship of a female narrator with an older man called Xavier, and the detransition of their relationship from romantic to something else.
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