Irish America
Snowflake By Louise Nealon There’s been a huge buzz about Louise Nealon ever since word of her debut novel was announced, with many reviewers and critics calling her the next Sally Rooney. Maybe they should all leave the Mayo writer to be the current and next Sally Rooney, however, and come up with different descriptors for almost every other Irish female writer under 30. … [Read more...] about Summer Reading
Tom Deignan first interviewed Alice McDermott as a young journalist. He looks back now on her literary career over the past 20 years and talks to her about her new non-fiction book What About the Baby? Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction. For four decades now, Alice McDermott has dazzled the literary world in a fashion nearly as subtle and cunning as her fiction. We … [Read more...] about Spending Time With Alice
Poet Paul Muldoon is even busier than usual. Earlier this month he was in London to help launch Paul McCartney’s memoir, “The Lyrics”… an instant bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic. Muldoon interviewed The Beatle for five years then edited the beautiful two volume boxed set. Muldoon, a Pulitzer prize-winning poet and Princeton professor once again organized the Princeton … [Read more...] about The 10th Annual Tom Quinlan Poetry Lecture Featuring Paul Muldoon
Frank McCourt's second book, 'Tis, follows, on where Angela's Ashes leaves off with the young Limerick man making his way in New York. In the following excerpt Frank's pal Paddy McGovern takes him to an Irish dance hall. Paddy Arthur McGovern warns me that if I keep on listening to that noisy jazz music I'll wind up like the Lennon brothers so American I'll forget I’m Irish … [Read more...] about A Night to Remember
Fiction He may not have been nominated for this year's Booker Prize, much to the surprise of many observers, but with A Star Called Henry, Roddy Doyle has written a book that, for my money, far surpasses Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, the work that won him the prestigious literary award in 1993. Henry Smart is the larger-than-life hero of Doyle's latest work, but it's his infamous … [Read more...] about The Book SHELF: A sampling of the latest Irish books on offer
