Actor Paul Mescal reading the poem “Everything is Going to Be Alright” by the Irish poet Derek Mahon
Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh! Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you! For this national holiday, we invite you to enjoy rich contemporary literature from today’s Ireland.
For a charming, transporting, magical journey between Dublin, London, and Paris, between the 1920s and the 2020s, try The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods. This literacy mystery is waiting to be unlocked by readers of wit and romance. Print copy available for checkout from the 1st floor Bestsellers Collection, call number PR6123.O537 L6 2024
Intermezzo, the latest, emotionally riveting novel from Sally Rooney explores family relationships, loss, how to live with chronic pain, and how to find joy in this transporting, present prose. Print copy available for checkout from the 2nd floor Gohstand Reading Room, call number PR6118.O59 I58 2024
For a story of Irish immigrants to America, try Long Island by Colm Tóibín, about unfulfilled longings and the bonds that can be restored. Print copy available for checkout from the 2nd floor Gohstand Reading Room, call number PR6070.O455 L66 2024
To understand why and when the largest wave of Irish immigrants arrived in North America, try Rot: An Imperial History of the Irish Famine. This rigorous, grim investigation details the tragedy of Irish history that cast a shadow over a century long. Print copy available for checkout on the 3rd floor, stack 9, call number DA950.7 .S34 2025
A literary history is explored through Nine Irish Plays for Voices, original scripts written by poet Eamon Grennan. These plays, originally staged in Connemara in 2009-2021, are for only one or two actors. They reimagine famed Irish work by poet W.B. Yeats, playwright J.M. Synge, and novelist James Joyce, as well as events like the Famine and emigration. Full text available online
