World Literature

From Now to Then

A narrative structure which inverts fiction’s usual propulsion from a ‘then’ towards a point of closure that seems to be an inevitable consequence of events…

World Art / Culture

Nose Stuck in a Book

A certain kind of child can be sceptical of the benefits of fresh air, sturdy play or hand-me-down versions of femininity or masculinity, especially when…

Irish Literature

Innocent Abroad

Alan McMonagle’s debut novel has been compared to McCabe’s ‘The Butcher Boy’ and Ryan’s ‘The Spinning Heart’. He has nothing to fear from the comparisons.…

Irish Literature

A Different Kind of Nothing

Paul Murray’s new novel is fiendishly clever, loosely yet convincingly plotted, as brash and vulgar at times as the world it portrays. It is wild,…

World Literature

The Hunger Angel

Nobel Prize winner Herta Müller looked with the eyes of the victim on the political masters of terror and called it by its name.