Competition: Win the Irish short story anthology Silver Threads of Hope and help Console plus watch launch videos

A wonderful anthology of Irish short stories entitled Silver Threads of Hope was published earlier this year.

Featuring authors Kevin Barry, Dermot Bolger, John Boyne, Emma Donoghue, Roddy Doyle, Belinda McKeon and many more and edited by Sinéad Gleeson, the book is in aid of the Irish national suicide charity Console.

Find out more about the book and win your own copy below.

In October, publishers New Island published this book - new original short stories from Irish writers. The stories have never before been published and have been contributed by the authors in support of Console.

The writers include: Kevin Barry, Greg Baxter, Dermot Bolger, John Boyne, Declan Burke, John Butler, Trevor Byrne, Emma Donoghue, Roddy Doyle, Dermot Healy, Christine-Dwyer Hickey, Declan Hughes, Arlene Hunt, Colm Keegan, John Kelly, Claire Kilroy, Pat McCabe, Colum McCann, John McKenna, Belinda McKeon, Mike McCormack, Siobhan Mannion, Peter Murphy, Nuala Ni Chonchúir, Phillip O'Ceallaigh, Keith Ridgway, William Wall and Mary Costello.

The stories are hugely varied in both style, length and content.

Personal favourites include Gloria by Declan Hughes, Yes by Colm Keegan, Prisoner by John Kelly and Kissing by Keith Ridgway.

There are tales of lost love, family favouritism, of wanting to be an artist, of missed opportunities, snooty Dublin dinner parties, a dead child, failing to be a Premiership footballer, kissing, a ghost story, a mature student’s odd relationship with a lecturer, weddings, affairs, the effects of poverty on youth, hitch-hiking, Spanish holidays, runaways and an artist who creates work out of clouds.

Only two of the stories centre on suicide: one is about a suicide attempt. Their inclusion is happenstance, but seems fitting, given the connection to Console.

 Booker Prize-winning author Anne Enright, Console CEO Paul Kelly and book editor Sinead Gleeson at the launch of Silver Threads of Hope. Photo by Conor McCabe photography. 

Console was established in 2002 by Paul Kelly after he had experienced the grief of losing a loved one by suicide. Through his loss, Paul recognized a need for a dedicated suicide prevention, intervention and postvention service here in Ireland.

Since then, Console has developed into a national organization supporting people in suicidal crisis and those bereaved by suicide, by providing professional counselling, support and helpline services. Console is a national service with centres in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Athlone, Wexford and Kildare.

Here, from the launch, Console Founder and CEO Paul Kelly talks about how he founded Console and about the book and what it means to the organisation.

Here, again from the launch, author Anne Enright and editor Sinéad Gleeson talk about how the book came about - including raiding Roddy Doyle's hard drive - and who was involved.

Editor Sinéad Gleeson is a journalist and broadcaster who writes for The Irish Times about arts and culture. She is a reporter for RTÉ One’s The Works programme, is a regular reviewer on RTÉ Radio 1's arts show Arena and co-founder of The Anti Room. She lives in Dublin with her husband, two children and, as she says herself, ‘too many books’.

You'll find the book in all good book shops and online from New Island here.

We have a couple of copies to give away - just leave a comment below to be in with a chance of winning.