What has absorbed the fancy, stirred the heart and unlimbered the laptop of Keyes for the past 25 years is the messiness and humour to be found in ordinary Irish lives and families. Her stories have travelled across the world, selling over 40 million copies which have been translated into more than 30 languages.

From Watermelon to Rachel’s Holiday, This Charming Man to her latest novel, Grown Ups, her stories might be mostly rooted in Ireland but, as with the late Maeve Binchy, they contain universal and enduring appeal.

I have been lucky enough to have interviewed Keyes several times. I will be in conversation with her again on the opening night of The Irish Times Summer Nights Festival on Monday, July 13th. Those who join us can expect her trademark witty banter but also the thoughtful musings of a woman who is relentlessly original, courageous and warm. That she’ll make us laugh goes without saying.

But from experience I also know she’ll say something, probably several things, that we’ll end up thinking about for a long time afterwards.

So in anticipation of a wonderful event, here is Marian Keyes in her own words on writing, feminism, mental health and happy endings: