Snowflake: One Dublin One Book 2024

Snowflake by Louise Nealon is the One Dublin One Book choice for 2024.

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One Dublin One Book aims to encourage everyone in Dublin to read a book connected with the capital city during the month of April every year. This annual project is a Dublin City Council initiative, led by Dublin City Libraries and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, which encourages reading for pleasure.

Dublin City Librarian, Mairead Owens, said: “A debut novel, Snowflake from Louise Nealon is a tender story of a college student from the country adjusting to her new life in Dublin. Raw, yet affirming, this book will appeal to all readers as it explores life’s milestones, family, mental health and how we ultimately connect with others while facing big challenges. I am excited about reaching new audiences with this book and generating discussion among readers in the city and beyond next April.” 

The book’s author Louise Nealon is excited about the One Dublin One Book programme, remarking:

“I am delighted that Snowflake has been chosen as next year’s One Dublin One Book. I could never have imagined, upon entering Dublin as a lost culchie, that my confrontation with the place would fuel the world of a novel. Dublin has a habit of showing people who they are. In the early stages of writing Snowflake, the characters stayed within the confines of their rural village. It was only when I sent them to Dublin that they began to reveal themselves to me. It is an honour to unleash this story into the imagination of a city that helped to bring it to life.”

The One Dublin One Book initiative is also funded by The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media.

The Book

Eighteen-year-old Debbie White lives on a dairy farm with her mother, Maeve, and her uncle, Billy. Billy sleeps out in a caravan in the garden with a bottle of whiskey and the stars overhead for company. Maeve spends her days recording her dreams which she believes to be prophecies.  

This world is Debbie’s normal, but she is about to step into life as a student at Trinity College Dublin. As she navigates between sophisticated new friends and the family bubble, things begin to unravel. Maeve’s eccentricity tilts into something darker, while Billy’s drinking gets worse. Debbie struggles to cope with the weirdest, most difficult parts of herself, her family and her small life. But the fierce love of the White family is never in doubt, and Debbie discovers that even the oddest of families are places of safety.

A startling, honest, laugh and cry novel about growing up and leaving home, only to find that you’ve taken it with you, Snowflake is a novel for a generation, and for everyone who’s taken those first, terrifying steps towards adulthood. Winner of Newcomer of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards 2021.

The Author 

Louise Nealon is a writer from County Kildare. She has a degree in English literature from Trinity College Dublin and a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Queen’s University Belfast. In 2017, she won the Cork International Short Story Competition. Her debut novel, Snowflake was released in May 2021, and won Newcomer of the Year at the An Post Book Awards. Snowflake has been translated into several languages including German, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Croatian, Slovakian and Chinese. Her short story ‘What Feminism Is,’ is currently being adapted into a short film by Pure Divilment Pictures. Louise is currently working on her second novel.

The Publisher

Snowflake is published by Manilla Press, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK.

Programme Highlights

Get the full listing of events HERE.

This year is the 19th One Dublin One Book campaign which aims to get everyone reading the same book in Dublin during the month of April!

Snowflake: A Celebration

Thursday 18 April, 7pm 
The Samuel Beckett Theatre, Trinity College Dublin 
FREE 

Book Snowflake: A Celebration.

Join us for a special evening when author Louise Nealon will be in conversation with RTÉ broadcaster, Rick O’Shea about her novel Snowflake, how she was inspired to write it and what interests her for future writing projects. The night will include dramatised readings from Snowflake by Caroline Quinn as Debbie, and Steve Wall as Billy, as well as music performances from Maija Sofia.

A window on Greek myths in Snowflake. Free.

• Thursday 4 April, at 6.30pm. Book Kevin Street Library.
• Thursday 11 April at 6.30pm. Book Coolock Library
• Thursday 18 April at 1pm. Book Central Library
• Thursday 25 April at 6.30pm. Book Rathmines Library

Jessica Doyle, UCD school of classics presents a short introduction to the Greeks and their myths in this talk including myths featured in the novel.

Like Mother Like Daughter

Wednesday 24 April, 6.30pm. FREE. Book Like Mother Like Daughter. 
Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2.

Authors, Alice Kinsella, Molly Hennigan and Louise Nealon will discuss things we learn from our mothers and grandmothers. They will refer to what has changed and what has stayed the same when it comes to how women are represented in Irish fiction and non-fiction. This discussion will be moderated by Clíona Ó Gallchoir, lecturer in English, UCC and co-editor with Heather Ingram of A history of modern Irish women’s literature.

What is the stars?

Wednesday 17 April, 7pm – 8.45pm. FREE. Book What is the Stars?. 
Dunsink Observatory, Dunsink Lane, Dublin 15

Star-gazing on the farm is a shared pastime for Debbie and her uncle Billy in the novel Snowflake. Come along to Dunsink observatory for readings by the author, Louise Nealon. Staff from the Observatory will be on hand to tell us about the stars and there will be music performances from harpist Siobhan Armstrong. This event will also include a visit to the South Dome home of the Grubb telescope.

Transport can be arranged if necessary, please email [email protected]

Books by authors featured in the programme:

• Armstrong, Sheila, Fallen Animals
• Barry, Harry, Embracing change, how to build resilience and make change work for you (non-fiction)
• Barry, Harry, Emotional resilience, how to safeguard your mental health (non-fiction)
• Cassidy, Joe, The Diviner (non-fiction)
• Fitzsimons, Olivia, The Quiet Whispers Never Stop
• Flannery, Aingeala, The Amusements
• Hennigan, Molly, The Celestial Realm, A Memoir of Madness & Maternal Lineage
• Kinsella, Alice, Milk, On Motherhood & Madness
• McCambridge, Paul & McCoy, Maureen, Wild Swimming in Ireland (non-fiction)
• Ní Dochartaigh, Kerri, Thin places & A Cacophony of Bone 
• Ó Gallchoir, Clíona & Ingram, Heather A history of Modern Irish Women’s Literature
• Ryan, Eimear, Holding Her Breath & The Grass Ceiling (non-fiction)