During 2023, I am delighted to be joining forces with Kim at Reading Matters to celebrate the work of one of Ireland’s finest writers, William Trevor.

William Trevor Cox KBE (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2016), was an Irish novelist, playwright, and short story writer. One of the leading of the Irish literary world, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest contemporary writers of short stories in the English language.

The author of 20 novels and novellas, 15 collections of short stories and 8 plays, Trevor won the Whitbread Prize three times and was nominated five times for the Booker Prize, the last for his novel Love and Summer (2009), which was also shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award in 2011. He lived in England from 1954 until his death at the age of 88 in 2016 and the collection Last Stories was published posthumously in 2018.

Kim and I are really excited to be hosting this year long read-along of William Trevor’s work to celebrate 95 years since his birth and 65 years since the publication of his first novel. We will each be reading one of his books every month and we will review our chosen book in the first week of that month. This means you can read along with one, either or both of us, or alternatively, just choose your own Trevor to read!

Here are the 24 books we have selected as a great introduction to the work of this most versatile of writers.

Month	Cathy	Kim
JANUARY	The Old Boys (1964)	Cheating at Canasta (Stories, 2007)
FEBRUARY	The Boarding House (1965)	Mrs Eckdorf in O’Neill’s Hotel (1969)
MARCH	The Love Department (1966)	Miss Gomez and the Brethren (1971)
APRIL	The Hill Bachelors (Stories, 2000)	Elizabeth Alone (1973)
MAY	Nights at the Alexandra (1987)	The Children Of Dynmouth (1973)
JUNE	Felicia’s Journey (1994)	A Bit on the Side (Stories, 2004)
JULY	Death in Summer (1998)	Other People’s Worlds (1980)
AUGUST	Family Sins (Stories, 1989)	Fools of Fortune (1983)
SEPTEMBER	The Story of Lucy Gault (2002)	The Silence in the Garden (1988)
OCTOBER	Excursions in the Real World (memoir,	After Rain (Stories, 1996)
NOVEMBER	Two Lives: Novellas (1991)	Two Lives: Novellas (1991
DECEMBER	Last Stories (2018)	The Dressmaker’s Child (2005)

Between Kim and myself, we have already reviewed some of his work. I have reviewed Love & Summer, After Rain and The Children Of Dynmouth and Kim has reviewed The Story of Lucy Gault, Felicia’s Journey, Death in Summer, Nights at the Alexandra, The Boarding House, The Love Department and Last Stories

Jacqui at JacquiWine’s Journal has reviewed a lot of Trevor’s work, including Other People’s Worlds and Mrs Eckdrof in O’Neill’s Hotel while Ali at Heaven Ali has also reviewed a good number of Trevor’s books, including Fools of Fortune.

If you do review a William Trevor book next year, then grab our graphic, be sure to tag myself and Kim in the post and use the hashtag #williamtrevor2023

I do hope you can join us in this year long celebration of one of not only Ireland’s, but the world’s finest writers.

Irish Literature Reading Challenge WilliamTrevor 2023 #williamtrevor2023 a year with william trevor irish literature william trevor