Spinning A New Tale

Sister act…

ust as our mate Grace dreams of working in a winery, when author Sarah Webb got the chance to work at Halfway Up The Stairs…

Well, she was as happy as a big-pocketed kid working in a sweet shop.

With a series of award-winning children’s books to her name (as well as her role as family programmer at the Museum Of Literature, Ireland, WonderFest and Dubray StoryFest), Sarah was already very familiar with Trish Hennessy’s much-loved Greystones bookshop.

And with such hit titles as Blazing A Trail: Irish Women Who Changed The World, A Sailor Went To Sea: Favourite Rhymes From An Irish Childhood and Dare To Dream: Irish People Who Took On The World (And Won!) on her CV, Trish was very, very familiar with Sarah’s books.

“It’s a match made in book heaven, to have Sarah join our team,” says the bould Hennessy. “Young book fans and budding writers love meeting their favourite authors, and so, to have one actually here in the shop, that brings an extra little bit of magic to the place…”

Herself once a bookseller, Sarah Webb clearly knows the tropes. But where did this love of books, and writing, all come from, and what sparks her typewriter pings?

Over to the lady herself…

“I grew up in Dalkey in a house full of books. My mother was a primary school teacher and naturally loved books, whilst both she and my father read to us a lot as children. We were very lucky.

“After school I studied English at college and continued reading every day, both for college work and for pleasure. After college, I started working in bookshops. Hodges Figgis, then Hughes and Hughes, Waterstones and Eason. I left the latter to write full time, but I continued working with bookshops as a consultant.

So it’s all come full circle now as I’m back helping Trish in her lovely Greystones bookshop and meeting lots of wonderful young readers and their families.

“Writing has taken me all over the world. I’ve read at festivals in the US, the UK and Hong Kong. Every city or town I visit I always visit the local bookshop.

“I love books – I read about six books a week, mainly children’s books – and I love finding the right book for a child.

“Every child deserves to find a favourite book…”

5 People Who Have Inspired Me

Mary Robinson
The first time I voted was for Mary Robinson for President. I think she’s a remarkable woman and I admire her work for climate justice so much.

Adam Harris
Adam is the Founder-CEO of As I Am, an organisation working to build an Ireland where every person in Ireland can live and succeed as they are. His work is so important and I think he’s a remarkable young person.

Joanna O’Riordan
Joanna is a respected sports journalist and I love reading her work in the Irish Times. She is one of only a handful of people in the world with Tetra-Amelia syndrome but she’s never let that stop her!

Dr Sindy Joyce
Sindy is the first Irish Traveller to graduate with a PhD and she’s also on the President’s Council of State. She’s another woman I really admire.

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell
While researching Blazing a Trail: Irish Women Who Changed the World I came across Jocelyn. She’s a world renowned scientist and she discovered an important new kind of star – a pulsar – when she was a graduate student. She’s amazing.

Sarah’s latest book, The Little Beekeeper of Henrietta Street (illustrated by Rachel Corcoran), will be published in September. Find out more here.