Webinar: Frank Shovlin talks to Tom Inglis about his biography of John McGahern.

Frank Shovlin talks to Tom Inglis about his biography of John McGahern.

Frank Shovlin is Professor of Irish Literature in English at the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool. A graduate of the Universities of Galway and of Oxford, he is author or editor of a wide range of books on twentieth century Irish writing: The Irish Literary Periodical 1923-1958; Journey Westward: Joyce, Dubliners and the Literary Revival; Touchstones: John McGahern's Classical Style; John McGahern's Dublin; The Letters of John McGahern; and, most recently, John McGahern: A Writing Life, which has been shortlisted for Dubray Books Irish Biography of the Year.

Professor of Irish Literature in English

Institute of Irish Studies

University of Liverpool

Tom Inglis is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at University College Dublin. He has written extensively
about Irish culture, mostly in relation to religion, meaning, the media, sexuality and globalisation. His
books include Moral Monopoly: The Rise and Fall of the Catholic Church in Modern Ireland (1998),
Truth, Power and Lies: Irish Society and the Case of the Kerry Babies; Global Ireland: Same Difference
(2008), Making Love (2012); Meanings of Life in Contemporary Ireland: Webs of Significance (2014),
To Love a Dog (2020). His most recent book Unbecoming Catholic: Being Religious in Contemporary
Ireland (2025) is an exploration of his socialisation into Catholicism, the non-institutional ways in
which people are religious and the need to develop new understandings of God and nature. He lives
outside of Cootehall, Co. Roscommon where is Academic Director of the John McGahern Barracks
Museum.