Shaped by the forces of 1970s Ireland and by a mother raging against her hemmed-in life, broadcaster, writer and podcaster Noelle McCarthy escaped Ireland for party town Auckland in the early 2000s – seeking a new world far away from the cultural fabric of her homeland. Many years later, and now a mother herself and a recovering alcoholic, she returns to bid her mother farewell and to reckon with her ghosts. The resulting memoir, 'Grand', is a moving meditation on mothers and daughters, on running away and homecoming, on the generational legacies we each carry. McCarthy speaks with Emma Espiner.

AUCKLAND WRITERS FESTIVAL, WAITUHI O TĀMAKI

SUNDAY 28 AUGUST 2022 – 12.30-1.30PM KIRI TE KANAWA THEATRE, AOTEA CENTRE