On 21 May 2026, we will welcome author Eimear McBride to the Nottebohmzaal of the Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library, where she will be in conversation with Pim Verhulst.

Eimear McBride was born in Liverpool in 1976 to Northern Irish parents who had moved to England to work during The Troubles. When she was three years old, they moved to Tubbercurry in County Sligo in the west of Ireland. Five years later, she lost her father to cancer, and when she was in her mid-teens, the family decided to move again, this time to Castlebar, County Mayo. At the age of seventeen, Eimear left home to study theatre at the Drama Centre London.

At the age of 27, she wrote her first novel, A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing, in just six months. However, it took almost ten years for the book to be published, after which it was picked up by Galley Beggar Press in 2013. It went on to win several major literary awards for its brilliant writing style and linguistic experiments. In 2016, her second novel, The Lesser Bohemians, was published to great acclaim by Faber & Faber, followed by a third novel, Strange Hotel, published in February 2020. McBride then wrote her first non-fiction book, Something Out of Place: Women and Disgust, which was published in 2021, in which she unravels the conflicting forces of disgust and objectification that control and shame women.

McBride's fourth novel, The City Changes its Face, was published last year.

Practical information

21 May 2026 - 18:00 - 19:30

Nottebohmzaal, Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library

Hendrik Conscienceplein 4

2000 Antwerp

Participation is free of charge. You can register using the button below.

The conversation with Eimear McBride is part of the Beckett and Intertextuality conference, but is open to the general public.

The writer's visit was made possible by the support of EFACIS Irish Itinerary 2026.