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In this centenary year of the publication of Ulysses we are delighted to welcome David Collard back to the Society with his new book, Multiple Joyce: One Hundred Short Essays About James Joyce's Cultural Legacy (Sagging Meniscus Press, June 2022). Springing from the essays we'll have discussion, song, readings and music to mark the UK launch of the book and ...
Sinéad Gleeson and Emilie Pine join the ILS to discuss their recent books of essays. Pine's winning last year's An Post Irish Book of the Year seemed to mark a reemergence of the essay form in Irish literature. Perhaps the flourishing of literary journals in Ireland has encouraged this, perhaps the renewed appreciation of Hubert Butler's work has been an ...
We're delighted to welcome back Jess Kidd to the Society to discuss her novel, The Night Ship. The novel is based on the extraordinary story of the Batavia, the flagship of the Dutch East India Company that in 1628 was wrecked on Morning Reef, on the Houtman Abrolhos islands off western coast of Australia. Its wrecking was followed by factions ...
Mark O’Connell’s latest book, A Thread of Violence, concerns the murders committed by Malcolm Macarthur in 1982 of a nurse, Bridie Gargan, and a farmer, Dónal Dunne. It is both an utterly compelling account of one of Ireland's most notorious crimes and an interrogation of the nature of true crime writing itself. When Macarthur, the heir to a small fortune, ...
The Annual Noel O'Connell Memorial Lecture, a joint venture of the Irish Literary Society and Irish Texts Society will be delivered by Dr. Mary MacDiarmada on 'Art O'Brien and Irish Nationalism in London, 1900-25'. London-born and reared, Art O’Brien’s journey from wealthy electrical engineer to leader of Irish militant nationalism in London was, by any measure, quite extraordinary. In her ...
Last year we engaged with Poetry Ireland and the Poetry as Commemoration project in UCD to develop workshops which used poetry as a means to deepen our collective understanding of Ireland’s past and to explore a challenging period of history relating to the War of Independence and Civil War. The three workshops were delivered by Roisin Tierney and Ian Duhig ...
Charlotte Brontë, who dazzled the world with some of literature’s most vital and richly-drawn characters, spent her brief but extraordinary life in search of love. She eventually found it with Arthur Bell, a reserved yet passionate Irishman. After marrying, the pair honeymooned in Ireland – a glimmer of happiness in a life shadowed by tragedy. We're delighted to welcome Martina ...
Neil Jordan is unique in his success both as a fiction writer and a movie maker. In his new memoir Amnesiac he looks back over his twin careers with a certain amused wonderment - how did he manage all that? The result is a fascinating record of private loves and losses, of public triumphs and lessons learned, in a narrative ...
The Annual Noel O'Connell Memorial Lecture, a joint venture of the Irish Literary Society and Irish Texts Society will be delivered by Phyllis Gaffney on her recent book Foreign Tongues Victorian Language Learning and the Shaping of Modern Ireland which is the first historical overview of the study of languages in Ireland. How history shifts languages and languages in turn ...
We are sorry to report that we will not be joined tonight by Nuala O'Connor as planned. Our apologies, this is due to unforeseen circumstances preventing her travel. We have more than a dozen poets reading their poems and reflecting on the work of the press. We're delighted to welcome back to the Society Nuala O'Connor and Alan Hayes representing ...
