International bestselling Irish author Marian Keyes talks to Lauren Byrne about the other side of chick lit. “Ask me anything,” Marian Keyes invited her audience at a recent reading she gave in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while promoting her latest book Anybody Out There? “I’m happy to talk about my alcoholism, suicide attempt, my low self-esteem.” Her listeners declined the … [Read more...] about Marian Keyes
Literature
Irish Author Wins Booker Prize
Irish author John Banville was the surprise winner of the Man Booker Prize this year for his novel The Sea. The Booker Prize for Fiction was originally set up by Booker plc. in 1969 to raise the public profile of authors, reward writing excellence and increase interest in modern fiction writing. The annual competition is open to all fiction writers from the British Commonwealth … [Read more...] about Irish Author Wins Booker Prize
Donleavy Archive U.S.-Bound
Author J.P. Donleavy (pictured right) is in negotiations with a U.S. university for the sale of his literary archive. The Brooklyn-born author who has been resident in Ireland since 1946 came to international prominence with publication of The Ginger Man nine years later. Donleavy did not wish to name the East Coast university but was pleased to find a purchaser for his work. … [Read more...] about Donleavy Archive U.S.-Bound
A Sampling of the Latest Irish Books
Biography THE SECRET LIFE OF OSCAR WILDE Neil McKenna There is no shortage of Oscar Wilde biographies out there. And, at this point, it would seem difficult to suggest that there are any "secrets" left to tell about the always-controversial Irish-born writer of plays, poetry, novels and more. But Neil McKenna seems to have broken new ground in his acclaimed new book The … [Read more...] about A Sampling of the Latest Irish Books
Politics and the Pulitzers
Politics always makes good fodder for art. This year, two Irish-American Pulitzer Prize winners -- playwright John Patrick Shanley and San Francisco Chronicle photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice -- found inspiration in recent events. Fitzmaurice won in the category of feature photography for her images of an Iraqi boy's reunion with his mother. Irish America Top-100 honoree Shanley … [Read more...] about Politics and the Pulitzers