Darragh McManus

Darragh McManus is an Irish author and journalist. His latest work is The Driving Force, a collection of short stories on a theme of movement (actual and metaphorical). He also wrote Pretend We’re Dead, a novel about a group of slackers in mid-1990s Cork City; !!SuperHyperMEGASTAR!! (2020), a comedy which crosses Cyrano de Bergerac and The X-Factor; Devil Hang Over Me, a psychological thriller; the Young Adult urban fantasy Red Raven; crime novels Even Flow and The Polka Dot Girl; YA mystery Shiver the Whole Night Through; comic crime novel Cold! Steel! Justice!!! (as Alexander O’Hara); and humorous non-fiction GAA Confidential, to excellent reviews. Darragh's short stories have featured in journals in Ireland, UK and US, as well as in Brevity is the Soul (2021), a collection of comic tales from Irish writers. He has written three screenplays, one of which placed in the top 5% of 6,000 contestants in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (Oscars) screenwriting competition. A play has had staged readings in Manhattan and Belfast. As a journalist he has written columns, features and critical reviews for 20 years for several national publications in different countries, including the Guardian, Sunday Times and Irish Independent. See darraghmcmanus.com for reviews of Darragh's books, archived articles and sample work.