Cónal Creedon: ‘My next novel will be my last' 

An award-winning novelist, playwright, and documentary film-maker. Cónal Creedon is contemplating where he finds his muse.

Not surprisingly for the author, whose most recent novel, Begotten Not Made, was awarded the Eric Hoffer Award USA, and whose next novel, Glory Be To The Mother, will be published in 2026, the answer lies in his beloved homeland.

“I am inspired by what I describe as the ‘Spaghetti Bowl’ of streets in downtown Cork city where my family has lived and traded for over a century,” he says.

“Downtown Cork city is the centre of my universe - and ever since childhood, it feels as if I’ve always had the freedom of the city.”

However, the bad news for fans of his work is that Cónal believes his next novel will be last.

“I am currently editing the final draft of what will be my last and final novel,” he says.

“Since the advent of AI [Artificial Intelligence] - I have decided to step away from writing novels in favour of exploring new avenues of self-expression.”

Cónal hints at his traditionalist approach to writing when he adds: “Call me ‘old school’, but I still write long-hand, I’m most creative with pen and paper.”

He adds: “AI is a game-changer - obviously a very lucrative and useful technology for publishers and writers who choose to avail of its wizardry.

“Without doubt, AI is the way of the future, and King Canute in all his stubbornness could not turn this in-coming tide of technology - but it’s not for me.

“My need to write has always been a very personal experience fuelled by self-exploration - a practice of deconstructing life’s experiences and then presenting my discovery as fiction.

“AI removes that highly personal analytical engagement, which is the life-blood, soul, and marrow of my inspiration.

“I sometimes wonder why a pastime as frivolous and inconsequential as storytelling is treated with such importance in our culture?

“It occurred to me that what sets us humans apart from the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, or the fish of the sea, is that we have a profound need to entertain and be entertained.

“It’s no coincidence that we are also the only species aware of our own mortality, maybe those two aspects of humanity are interconnected.

“Ever since we humans became aware of our own mortality, we have become obsessed by the notion of achieving immorality.

“There is a belief in ancient Gaelic culture that we live-on after death until our name is spoken for the final time.

“And so, by the re-imagining of living memory, and the incantation and preservation of magical tales through story, song or verse, the storyteller offers a type of immortality.

“It’s all about the story, it is important that the storyteller does not become more significant than the story they tell.”

Cónal says when he set out writing in the early 1990s, the world of culture was very different.

“I was writing a radio drama for RTÉ. So, each week, I faced a non-negotiable deadline of presenting a 30-minute script for broadcast.

“I was also working on a novel, a collection of short stories and a stage play, and running my launderette - so, I learned to grab any available moment of solitude to write.

“I took to writing in my car parked outside the launderette. And though, in recent years I’ve moved indoors, I still write long-hand.

“I am constantly surrounded by stacks of refill pads and jotters. Every now and again, I type up all my ramblings - then I conduct a massive clear out and dump a black plastic garbage bag full of hand- scribbled notes into the recycling bin and start all over again. It’s my process and I find it cathartic.”

Cónal explains he is purely driven by the art of writing, and is not particularly attracted to the world of publication.

“I am happiest when I’m alone with my pen and paper - teasing out all these characters who inhabit my mind.

“Writing is my obsession, with pen and paper my mind courses through downtown city streets - it’s sheer joy - publication is a by-product of my compulsive need to put words down on a page.”

Even so, it must be a thrill to see your work recognised and acclaimed internationally?

“Good news is always a good thin,” says Cónal. “The international recognition I received this past 12 months came as a complete surprise.

“I received a string of awards from the World Culture Council in Switzerland, The Irish American Heritage Centre in Chicago, The Beatty Lecture at McGill University in Montreal, The Princess Grace Library in Monaco Award, and I was appointed Laoch Reacairí 2025 - that level of third party endorsement of my work is a huge encouragement for me to plough on regardless.

“I never really stopped to question why I write - but I grew up in a very busy household: 12 siblings, and an exponential number of extended family living over a small corner shop.

“If anything, I am inspired by the oral tradition of storytelling. In a time before Facebook, Youtube and box sets - neighbours gathered at our shop counter to entertain and be entertained.

“From a young age, I would have dipped in and out the full canon of Irish literature in a very passive way: - Joyce, Behan, Binchy, na gCopaleen, O’Connor, Taylor.

“And yes, I do keep up to date with the endless list of current Irish writing, reading Sally Rooney, Tom McCarthy, Anne Marie Ní Churreáin, Molly Twomey, Kevin Barry, Theo Dorgan, Gerry Murphy, and Liz O’Donnell.

“But realistically, my personal passion is first and foremost an insatiable compulsion to write - life has a knack of chewing up time - so, I still grab every moment as it becomes available to put words down on paper.

“And thankfully, from my days writing in the launderette, once I have pen and paper, I can always find a quiet nook or cranny where I can shut the door on the real world and write away to my heart’s content.”