Cristín Leach

Writer, Art Critic, Broadcaster

Negative Space

Cristín Leach weaves words and art with an unravelling of self that comes when a marriage breaks. A new kind of memoir from one of Ireland’s leading art critics, Negative Space examines the importance of art and words to help anchor you in a world turned upside down. An Irish Times best seller, a Claire Byrne Show and The Last Word Best Non-Fiction book of 2022. A 2024 RTÉ Radio 1 Book on One.

From Ten Till Dusk

From Ten till Dusk delves into the archives and returns with a multiform narrative that brings key personalities and events in the Royal Hibernian Academy’s remarkable 200 year history to life. Through historical fiction, diary entries, critico-fiction, letters and poetry, Leach tells a dramatic and tumultuous story. A thebookshop.ie book of 2023.

From Ten Till Dusk

Strength (2026) and River House (2026)

Strength and River House are audio essays with objects, installed as part of The Water Library, curated by Zoë Comyns and Regan Hutchins.

Harvesting History (2024)

Harvesting History is an alternative harvest hymn written in response to the work of visual artist Debbie Godsell.

To the Line (2023)

To the Line is a mobile cube poem made in response to the paintings in the Big Crush series by Cork artist Deirdre Frost, exhibited at the Kilkenny Arts Festival in August 2023.

Forest Memories (2021)

Forest Memories is an audio poem/sound art work installed as part of ‘If Trees Were Lone Women What Would They Sound Like?’ curated by Clare Archibald.

21st Century Ireland in 21 Artworks

21st Century Ireland in 21 Artworks began as a series of articles, written for RTÉ Culture in 2017. This personal selection grew organically, drew on my previous two decades of looking at and writing about Irish art for The Sunday Times, and focused on artworks that investigate and reflect on aspects of life in Ireland. Rather than wait for art history to point towards a canon that might tell a story after the fact, the selection looks at art in the now, all of it made since the year 2000. In 2019, I curated an exhibition based on the original selections, with an additional 22nd artwork.

Cristín Leach is the author of the critically acclaimed divorce-art memoir Negative Space and the RHA bicentenary book From Ten Till Dusk. As art critic for The Sunday Times Ireland, she wrote and published more than half a million words about Irish art between 2003 and 2023.

Her audio essays and multimedia works have been broadcast and exhibited internationally, and her short fiction has been published in the Irish literary journals Winter Papers and The Four Faced Liar. She makes radio programmes for RTÉ Lyric FM and is an occasional presenter on RTÉ Radio 1's flagship arts show, Arena.

She was Writer in Residence for the 2021 HearSay International Audio Arts Festival, a Birr Writer in Residence in 2025, and the recipient of a 2026 writing residency at the Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris, France. Her writing is Arts Council funded, and her work is part of the OPW Irish State Art Collection.

Negative Space was a number 5 Irish non-fiction bestseller in 2022 and an RTÉ Radio 1 Book on One in 2024.

As art critic for the Sunday Times for almost 20 years, Cristín has combined expert knowledge of the visual arts with an ability to write about them in a clear and engaging way - an almost unique blend in the Irish media. As a columnist Cristín is adept at analysing topical and controversial issues, using her superb writing skills to inform, explain but also entertain. An extract from her book Negative Space was one of the most read articles on the Sunday Times website in 2022.
John Burns
The Sunday Times, Commissioning Editor

Cristín’s wonderfully crafted artists’ interview was a festival highlight at Light Moves Festival 2021. Her communication, research and delivery was authentic and engaging and conveyed genuine curiosity for the artist and their work. Cristín seamlessly engaged both the live audience and those experiencing the event via live-steaming. I would work with Cristín again in a heartbeat.
Mary Wycherley
Co-founder and Curator Light Moves Festival, Choreographer and Film Director

She is uncommonly good at writing about being embodied... Negative Space is the record of a writer remaking life and language, knowing they will always be strangely matched.
Brian Dillon
The Irish Times

There are few books that capture so gracefully and so truthfully the way in which art and life weave and bleed together. Negative Space is a beautiful, profound, unique book.
Sara Baume
Artist and Author

Leach is, with apologies to all others ploughing a similar furrow, the leading Irish fine art critic. She knows her onions,... No surprise then that this memoir is a work of art in and of itself.
Pat Carty
Hot Press

In this extraordinary book, Cristín Leach sketches a vivid sequence of vignettes that build towards a meditative portrait of art, voice, loss and growth.
Doireann Ní Ghríofa
Poet and Author

I adored Negative Space. It is a personal Ways of Seeing for twenty-first-century women... a compelling personal story steeped in art... essential reading.
Edel Coffey
Author and Journalist

An unflinching self-exploration of a woman at various major life stages, not to mention a refreshing portrait of a very modern Irish marriage breakdown, divorce and family break-up.
Tanya Sweeney
Irish Independent

From Ten till Dusk... is a joy. Taking an experimental format, it draws out, and frequently fictionalises the threads that run through the lives of those involved, to create an eclectic portrait of a place, the times, and the people who make the art.
Gemma Tipton
The Irish Times

Lucid insights, formal courage and striking turns of phrase consistently demonstrate why Leach is one of the best art critics writing in Ireland today.
Emily Mark-Fitzgerald
Irish Arts Review

Cristín Leach

Negative Space

From Ten Till Dusk

Negative Space

From Ten Till Dusk

Literary Journal Contributions

Artist Books and Monographs

Radio

Work in Curated Anthologies

Multimedia Works

Strength (2026) and River House (2026)

Harvesting History (2024)

To the Line (2023)

Forest Memories (2021)

From Ten Till Dusk - Audio Series

We Do Not Leave Pyramids

21st Century Ireland in 21 Artworks

About Cristín Leach

Reviews & Recommendations

Clients & Collaborative Organisations

Contact