POETRY The Wake Forest Series of Irish Poetry, Vol. 4 Selected by David Wheatley In the fourth installment of The Wake Forest Series of Irish Poetry, curated by 2008 Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize-winner David Wheatley, five Irish poets – the experimental Trevor Joyce, religious celebrant Aidan Mathews, elegist Peter McDonald, modern poet Ailbhe Darcy, and Irish speaker Ailbhe … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Issues
Beckett’s Bodies
“Dance first, think later. It is the natural order.” These are the words made famous by the characters of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot; characters who, Beckett delighted in suggesting, cannot move beyond their texts, never to experience the “later” in question. But what happens when dance is a vehicle for thought? When the body is infused with metaphor, filling its every … [Read more...] about Beckett’s Bodies
Sláinte! My Own Personal Seanchaí
By Edythe Preet, Columnist
Edythe Preet writes about her father’s love of literature and storytelling. June always finds me thinking about my father more than usual. It’s Father’s Day month, his birthday was the third, and strawberries, his favorite fruit, are in season. Naturally, his birthday cake was always strawberry shortcake. Dad loved strawberries so much that when he once visited me in Los … [Read more...] about Sláinte! My Own Personal Seanchaí
Those We Lost
Jimmy Breslin 1928 – 2017 Legendary New York City reporter Jimmy Breslin, who appeared on Irish America’s second ever cover in January of 1986, died March 19 in Manhattan following a bout of pneumonia. Breslin had a knack for finding the overlooked characters on the periphery of major stories. He wrote columns on the gravedigger for John F. Kennedy’s plot at Arlington who … [Read more...] about Those We Lost
Photo Album: The Old Irish of Burlington, Vermont
My family never celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at our house. When I got older and realized how Irish I was, I asked my mother why. She said she did not approve of all the drinking and she wanted her children to identify with their English background. Also, my father’s Protestant relatives from Boston were very prejudiced against Irish Catholics; they had a false sense of … [Read more...] about Photo Album: The Old Irish of Burlington, Vermont