Award-winning author Colum McCann is set to captivate audiences at the Lime Tree Theatre for an evening of conversation and storytelling on March 8. In discussion with Dr. Deirdre Flynn, McCann will delve into the themes of his latest novel, Twist, a gripping exploration of connectivity, isolation, and digital colonialism. With a deep-rooted connection to Limerick through his global storytelling initiative, Narrative 4, McCann’s visit promises a thought-provoking dialogue on literature, journalism, and the power of stories to bridge divides.
DUBLIN-BORN McCann grew up surrounded by storytelling, influenced by his father, a journalist and author. He began writing early, covering local soccer matches for The Irish Press at age 11. After studying journalism in Dublin, he worked for various newspapers before moving to the U.S. in 1986 to pursue fiction. His experiences travelling across America—living with Native American communities, the Amish, and working as a wilderness educator—shaped his storytelling approach.
He has won numerous international honours, including the U.S. National Book Award and an Oscar. His work has been published in over 40 languages. He is the co-founder of Narrative 4, a global non-profit that uses storytelling to build community engagement in schools worldwide.
Limerick Post chatted with Colum this week. Narrative 4 has an office on O’Connell Street, Limerick, and McCann feels a strong connection to the city. “I’m looking forward to going back to Limerick. It feels like a heart home for me,” he says. “Narrative 4 on O’Connell Street has been there for almost a decade now, so every year I visit at least once or twice. It’ll be like coming home again.”
What is Narrative 4, and why was it established?
“Narrative 4 is not about political standpoints. It’s about personal storytelling, recognizing each other’s complexities and contradictions, and ultimately seeing our shared humanity. We live in an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, and storytelling bridges those gaps, particularly for young people. Our method allows people to step into each other’s stories, fostering empathy, which leads to action and tangible change.”
Narrative 4 is now a global organisation in 42 countries, including 12 in Africa, with projects across the U.S., Mexico, and Europe. Limerick remains its central hub.
“We bring schools together. In April, we’ll take young people to Northern Ireland for a Good Friday speech by Senator Mitchell, where students from the North and South will exchange stories.”
A narrative of connection, disconnection, truth, deception, and survival.
Twist explores themes of connectivity and loneliness and is described by McCann as a sister book to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
“During the pandemic, I thought a lot about repair and healing. I discovered a cable repair ship operating off the West African coast. Surprisingly, 95% of the world’s intercontinental information travels via undersea cables, not satellites. There are about 450 working cables, carrying 10 trillion dollars’ worth of interactions daily. They are the arteries of the world.”
These cables can break due to fishing trawlers, underwater landslides, or sabotage.
“You can’t send divers or robots down. It has to be done the old-fashioned way – with a grappling hook scouring the ocean floor to catch a cable no bigger than a garden hose. The world is full of stories we rarely hear about.”
Twist follows journalist Anthony Fennell aboard the George Lecointe, a cable repair vessel off Africa’s coast. As he unearths the intricate network binding the modern world, he becomes entangled in a narrative of connection, disconnection, truth, deception, and survival.
“I set out to write about repair but ended up writing about both repair and sabotage,” McCann explains.
“The book became a sister novel to Heart of Darkness, which inspired Apocalypse Now. It offers a fresh take on colonialism—today’s digital colonialism. The undersea cables are owned by corporations like Google and Meta, raising questions about who controls our data and how it’s used or abused.”
Local newspapers are vital
Twist is already receiving high praise, with Kevin Barry calling it “urgent and utterly compelling,” while Salman Rushdie describes it as “a powerfully realist novel of men at sea … speaking to the brokenness of our time.”
Your interviewer notes that both McCann and Limerick author Kevin Barry transitioned from journalism to best-selling fiction.
Kevin Barry once worked as a court reporter for The Limerick Post Newspaper.
“It was an honour to get a quote from Kevin, a writer I admire,” McCann says.
“My first job was with The Connaught Telegraph in Castlebar.
“Local newspapers are vital. They contribute to global news. Sadly, in many places, newspapers are being gutted, which is dangerous. Journalism is under threat—you hear figures like Trump calling the press ‘enemies of the people,’ which is absurd. It’s crucial that journalists stay and tell the truth as presented to them.”
A pessimist of the intellect and an optimist of the will
McCann has lived in New York since the 1980s, witnessing an increasingly surreal political landscape. Does he despair or see hope for the U.S.right now?
“It’s pretty disastrous. I look at what’s happening, and I really shake my head.
“I find it hard to believe what’s occurring on our watch, but I have to believe that somehow people are going to get together and that there will be enough of a push back against what’s going on.
“There are very few protests on the street. People are being silenced. People are being fired. There’s a disregard for law and a disregard for basic human inclinations in many ways.
“People are kind of stunned right now, so it’s almost as if they’ve been knocked off their feet, and we’re dazed and getting up, it’s like a punch to the back of the brain.
“We’re getting back up on our feet. And I have to believe that we’ll somehow recover.
“There’s an Italian social scientist (Antonio Gramsci ) who talks about being a pessimist of the intellect and an optimist of the will. In other words, you know, the world is really dark, but you have to be able to get yourself up and to create something new out of it.”
