Ms Maria Sweeney

Comparative psychologies fascinate Maria Sweeney and with insight she switches from one narrator to the next following their stream of consciousness. Her aim is to address the fear of death, to transform it in to a welcoming passage and reduce alienation between peoples. She graduated from college with merit in philosophy, psychology and sociology. Moreover her training in the Gaiety school of acting, Dublin, taught her to create vivid backgrounds for characters.

“What inspired me to write was witnessing my mum having a transformation on her dying bed.

Her body was limp, her voice a wisp but then she saw a vision. Her eyes glistened at something awesome at the end of her bed. I supposed The Light. She seemed to find this light inviting, because she gently lifted back the bed-clothes and turned her hand towards it breathing, ‘JESUS,’ wanting to go.

I began to wonder if a Catholic saw her Saviour what would other people see in that most final of moments. Nobody wanted to discuss this with me so I slipped into the shoes of other persuasions, began to write and it snowballed from a village to a city to a planet.

The tale stems from the supposition that Heaven exists and that the paradise we see at the hour of our death is the fruit of our earthly conditioning combining with our vast subconscious. At a quirky pace, my tale offers romance and religion, sex and confrontation, exuberance and despair, while opening the curtains to the many cultures in our world.

I believe the subject is ripe, juicy and nourishing for our epoch. It can soothe, entertain and fascinate your emotions and mind.”

—Maria Sweeney