Ireland in Writing

Book excerpt: As the twentieth century draws to a close, Ireland in Writing: Interviews with Writers and Academics focuses on the textual mapping of the country over the century through the creative energies and intellectual reflections of a selection of writers and educators at the tertiary level. The volume is a collection of eleven interviews held by three university teachers and a research assistant, all resident in Spain. The interviews with both male and female writers and academics, who hail from Northern Ireland and the Republic, have been conducted over the 1990s. The writers were quizzed about their own writing: how it came into being, who or what they have looked to as inspirational and how their novels, short stories, poetry and plays relate to Ireland past and present. The academics express views on their critical theories and practices, on particular areas of interest, on English and Irish in Ireland, on contemporary writing and cultural dynamics: from Friel to Telefís Éireann, passing through Field Day, the Abbey and the question of a hybrid Irish identity.