It is March, spring has arrived in my area of the world, and I’m having flashbacks to a recent trip to Ireland—the glowing green of the meadows, the crashing waves of the ocean, and the feeling that everything is ancient is still very much alive. I’d love to share with you some of my favorite contemporary Irish writers, whose work seems to carry that same atmosphere: intimate, sharp, and a little haunting.
Many of the Irish authors I love write in small moments that bring big revelations and reveal place through clear concise prose. Some of the works I love include:
“Love Object” by Edna O’Brien (The New Yorker, May 6, 1967)
This was the first story that introduced me to O’Brien and it is still my favorite. The story is about a woman having a relationship with a married man and presses on longing, loneliness, and power imbalances with such emotional clarity. What is most unerving about this piece is how she is able to show how easy it is to fool ourselves.
“Treaty,” by Colum McCann from Thirteen Ways of Looking (2015)
McCann has many other pieces that are more well-known, but what strikes me about this piece is how he shows past trauma reaching into the present. When a nun sees her assaulter on television, now a well-known diplomat, she becomes fixated on confronting him. This piece made me wrestle with questions like can we ever really leave trauma behind, are we allowed to start over, and can confrontation become an obsession?
So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men by Claire Keegan (2023)
Keegan is a master of place through the use of concrete images. Her prose is spare but exacting, and the quietness of her pieces make the emotional impact even greater. Though all of her work is wonderful, this collection is my favorite because of its focus on complex gender dynamics. The stories are varied, addressing resentment, love, violence, and lust.
Normal People by Sally Rooney (2018)
Sally Rooney fever hit some years back, but if you missed the wave, here’s a nudge to jump on board. Normal People, a coming of age story about the somewhat dysfunction relationship between the wealthy Marianne and popular Connell, is my favorite Rooney book. She has a way of needling into unspoken tensions, miscommunication, longing, desire, comfort, and all of that juicy stuff that comes in relationships.
Lying in my To-Be-Read pile:
Bright I Burn by Molly Aitken (2024)
I’m a sucker for feminist retellings, so I am drawn to this novel about Alice Kyteler, the first woman in Ireland condemned as a witch. What interests me most is that this book looks at how a woman in the 13th century with ambition and some power is someone labeled as dangerous. I’m curious to see how Aitken handles that tension.
What other works from Irish authors should be in my TBR pile? If you have favorites I should add, I’d love to hear!
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