Fail Again Fail Even Better, published by Troubador Publishing in October 2025, tells the story of Galway-born poet Bosco Helly. In the pantheon of great Irish poets, Bosco would be nowhere near that pantheon. But what he lacks in talent, technical skill, emotional depth and authenticity he makes up for in persistence.

Over the years, possessing a Sisyphean stubbornness, he has published nearly forty volumes of poetry. However, feeling an ever-increasing disconnect with the modern world and wearying of decades of public indifference and critical contempt, he has decided that his latest volume will be his last.

As he attempts to finish this ultimate collection, Bosco engages in a trip and tumble down memory lane, recalls the great love of his life Luna, shares his concerns about aging and introduces us to his circle of artistically unfulfilled friends living in that eternal bastion of blather, Dublin.

The novel is a sacred hymn to all underachievers, a paean to creative pain, but most importantly, a full-throated aria celebrating the facilitation of one’s delusions.

Please click here to find out more about the book and if you want to find out even more, please click here. You can read an extract from the novel here.