Irish America
Irish America
Ireland's foremost writer of fiction talks to Frank Shouldice. For writer William Trevor there comes a moment when it’s time to stop. Whether drafting a novel or a short story he arrives at a moment of completion, the point at which all work is done. He will have written, rewritten and reworked elements of the story numerous times, agonized over plot, fussed with characters, … [Read more...] about William Trevor: A Sculptor of Words
It is fitting that the 1969 Nobel Prize for literature went to the Irish playwright and novelist Samuel Beckett. After all, in works such as Waiting for Godot and Endgame, Beckett alternated between tragedy and comedy, drama and farce. The same could be said about 1969. It has now been 40 years since that eventful year which gave us Woodstock, the moon landing, the Manson … [Read more...] about 1969: A Crazy Year for Irish America
It is difficult to think back to the Irish film The Commitments without remembering the stunning vocals by Andrew Strong playing the character Deco Cuff, the lead singer in the film’s eccentric Dublin band. At the ripe age of sixteen, Strong began filming the drama based on a novel by Roddy Doyle. His distinct voice quickly became associated with the most memorable scenes of … [Read more...] about Andrew Strong: Life After The Commitments
Our voices carry; and though slumber-bound, Some few half awake… Give tongue, proclaim their hidden name… W.B. Yeats At one point in Quinn’s Book, the fourth novel in William Kennedy’s masterful “Albany Cycle,” a trainload of Famine immigrants passes through Albany. Witnessing this sad procession, narrator Daniel Quinn is told by a companion, “Pay heed to these people and … [Read more...] about The Legacy of Danny Cassidy
J. Courtney Sullivan is, just like each of her engaging and multifaceted characters in Commencement, far from two-dimensional. In our conversation, she tells me stories about sending copies of works by feminist activist and scholar Catharine MacKinnon anonymously to boys after a terrible first date, and refers to her expression of newfound political views in her younger years … [Read more...] about J. Courtney Sullivan: Graduating from Chick Lit
