Catch Up with Louise McSharry

CW: addiction, childhood poverty, sexual assault

No person has been suggested more for this podcast than Dr. Katriona O'Sullivan, so she immediately came to mind when I was considering who I'd like to speak to for these extended episodes over Christmas. Katriona is an award-winning professor whose memoir Poor was published this year and went on to recently win two Irish Book Awards.

Poor tells the story of Katriona's experience of growing up in poverty with two addicted parents. She writes in an open and unflinching manner about the challenges she faced, the power of self-belief and also offers real insight into how society can best support people who are at a disadvantage from the get-go.

While Katriona experienced many challenges I did not, there are some parallels between our early childhoods which made reading her book a profound experience for me, and also fed into this episode which is less of an interview and more of a conversation. I hope you'll forgive my tears.