324: Heather Aimee O'Neill
For years, Heather Aimee O'Neill built a career helping other writers find their voices as a teacher, editor, and writing coach. What many of her friends, including me, didn't know was that she was quietly writing a novel of her own.
That novel, The Irish Goodbye, became one of the most celebrated debut novels of 2025. A Read With Jenna selection, it tells the story of three sisters returning to their Long Island family home for Thanksgiving, each carrying grief, guilt, and unanswered questions surrounding the death of their brother years earlier.
With Heather Aimee O’Neill and Miso Maltipoo in Brooklyn, April 2026
Here, she reflects on the vulnerability of ambition, why artists often hide their work before it's finished, the transition from private maker to public figure, and the realization that success doesn't necessarily quiet the desire to create. Along the way, she explores ideas of voice, authenticity, grief, creative practice, and what it means to come into your own.