Irish America
Irish America
On reading the correspondence of central early twentieth-century literary figures such as W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, and James Joyce, one finds the name of John Quinn appearing as a kind of oblique leitmotif, and his function seems to be as some sort of agent or patron or perhaps both. This shadowiness is at least in part his own creation, for Quinn … [Read more...] about The Mighty Quinn
The Irish have long loomed in American imagination. From Mr. Dooley to Scarlett O'Hara to Randall Patrick McMurphy, they have appeared as powerful symbols in popular American fiction, standing for will power and unbowed determination (in the case of Ms. O'Hara, who would never go hungry again) or for deep-seated sanity and freedom of spirit (in the case of R.P. McMurphy, the … [Read more...] about The Irish Moment
On swanky hotels, Gráinne O’Malley’s tailor-made pirate outfits, and her own unusual hidden talent. Mary Beth Keane’s novel, Ask Again, Yes, is a lyrical, moving tale spanning 40 years about family, love, alcoholism, and mental illness. Told with tenderness and empathy for the human condition, it is juxtaposed with just the right amount of humor to carry the story along. … [Read more...] about What Are You Like? Writer Mary Beth Keane
Award-winning Irish children's author Jane Mitchell focuses on the Syrian Civil War crisis and its effect on children in a new novel aimed at young people. As one of the worst refugee crises in modern history, the Syrian Civil War has uprooted over two million children since it began in March 2011. The question of how to explain the scenes of human suffering that flood our … [Read more...] about Children Without Refuge
