WINNER of the An Post Irish Book Awards 2023 Biography of the Year

WINNER of the An Post Irish Book Awards 2023 The Last Word’s Listeners’ Choice

We love a rags-to-riches story, and we love to see someone triumph through sheer determination.

But the story is rarely that simple. My story isn’t, anyway.’As the middle of five kids growing up in dire poverty, the odds were low on Katriona O’Sullivan making anything of her life. When she became a mother at 15 and ended up homeless, what followed were five years of barely coping.

This is the extraordinary story – moving, funny, brave, and sometimes startling – of how Katriona turned her life around. How the seeds of self-belief planted by teachers in childhood stayed with her. How she found mentors whose encouragement revived those seeds in adulthood.

Katriona is now an award-winning lecturer whose work challenges barriers to education. Poor is her stirring argument for the importance of looking out for our kids’ futures. Of giving them hope, practical support and meaningful opportunities.