Writing Rights – Spotlight on Sarah Bannan

Last week, we partnered with The Irish Times on the ‘Writing Rights’ project to mark Human Rights Day 2015.  Seven highly acclaimed Irish authors participated in this project, creating written responses – ranging from poetry to creative fiction to factual pieces – to various articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In recent days, we’ve been shining a spotlight on each of the authors that participated in this project.  Next up is Sarah Bannan, whose contribution to ‘Writing Rights’ was a piece of creative fiction called ‘Because Privacy’.  In this highly evocative piece, Sarah depicts a day in the life of a young mother, struggling to find suitable accommodation for herself and her baby.  Her inspiration was Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: ‘No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.’

Originally from New York, Sarah graduated from Georgetown University in 2000 and then moved to Ireland, where she has lived ever since. She is currently the Head of Literature at the Arts Council, and lives in Dublin with her husband and daughter.

When Sarah’s debut novel, ‘Weightless’, was published earlier this year (by Bloomsbury), it was greeted with critical acclaim.  Amongst other accolades, it was shortlisted for the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year Award 2015.

Commenting on ‘Weightless’, no less an authority than Roddy Doyle said: “There is nothing new about bullying, but many of the weapons are new. Sarah Bannan brings us right into the middle of bullying, 21st Century-style, in a novel that is chilling, engrossing and very, very impressive.”

You can read more about Sarah’s work at: www.sarahbannan.com.