Join Solas Nua's Isabel Cabezas in conversation with NYT bestselling author Betsy Cornwell about her debut memoir, Ring of Salt. Copies of the memoir will be available to purchase on site. This event is generously co-hosted by the Notre Dame Club of Washington, DC.
When: Thursday, October 2, 6:00-8:00 p.m. (6:00 reception, 6:30 talk, 7:30 book signing)
Where: Keough School of Global Affairs (1400 16th St. NW Suite 120, Washington, DC 20036)
Price: FREE to attend
Maid meets Under the Tuscan Sun in this inspiring and lyrical memoir about a writer and mother who flees an abusive marriage and must learn to reclaim the story of her life through a search for home on Ireland’s wild, western coast.
Ring of Salt combines a powerful and relatable narrative of survivorship and healing with lush writing about the windswept landscapes and rich mythology of rural Ireland to craft a real-world fairy tale about the ordinary, but no less life-changing, forms of magic we can all access: vulnerability, community, and the power of telling your own story.
Betsy Cornwell is a New York Times bestselling author of six novels and founder of The Old Knitting Factory, an arts residency and retreat space for single parents in Connemara. She received the Markievicz Award from the Irish government in 2024 for her work on this project. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Notre Dame and a BA from Smith College, and currently teaches at the University of Galway. She serves as a mentor for the Irish Writers Centre and was the first recipient of their Blue Mountains (Australia) Residency in 2023.
"A powerful and deeply empowering book, Ring of Salt is a hymn to the strength of community, a rallying cry against systemic injustice, and a testimony to the resilience of one woman's spirit. Beautifully written, this is an immersive exploration into the joy of finding home in unconventional places." —Roisín O’Donnell, author of Nesting
"Ring of Salt is so vast and tender and urgent, it’s almost like reading a novel. I couldn’t put it down. I haven’t cheered for a heroine like Betsy in ages.” —Jen Hatmaker, New York Times bestselling author of For the Love
