All Things Irish

Ahhh St. Patrick’s Day, one of my favorite holidays. Today most of the world is Irish, at least for the day, and it’s a perfect time to introduce Ireland and Irish writers to our patrons. Ireland has produced some of the greatest writers in literature, including renowned authors and poets James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, and Seamus Heaney. Some of the authors you may not have known were Irish are Jonathan Swift and Bram Stoker. While they all have varying and different styles, each has written about society, culture, and family relationships. What are some of your favorite Irish authors? Here’s a few of mine.

1.     W.B. Yeats

2.   Seamus Heaney

3.   C.S. Lewis “Narnia series”

4.   Tan French “In the Woods”

5.   Frank McCourt “Angela’s Ashes”

6.   John McGahern “Amongst Women”

7.   Eoin Colfer “Artemis Fowl”

8.   Joseph O’Connor “Star of the Sea”

9.   Thomas Flanagan “The Year of the French”

10.  John Boyne “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”

 The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
Through living roots awaken in my head.
But I've no spade to follow men like them.
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it.

- Seamus Heaney
Digging