It’s been an eventful month for Irish literature and not just because of Reading Ireland Month ’23! Here a a few of the great stories that have come out over the past few weeks!

• Fans of Claire Keegan will be delighted to hear that Cillian Murphy is set to produce and star in a big screen adaptation of her novella, Small Things Like These alongside Ciaran Hinds and Emily Watson. Financed by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company, filming has already started in County Westmeath. I predict future Oscar glory…
• To celebrate the paperback publication of her novel Trespasses, Louise Kennedy has teamed up with Waterstones and written a short story about Cushla Lavery set in 1977, which will be featured in the new edition.
• The shortlist for the Dylan Thomas Prize has been announced and Sara Baume has made the cut for her most recent novel Seven Steeples.
• To celebrate St Patrick’s Day this year, the Irish Times published two great book lists: one compiled a book for every county in Ireland and the other a book relating to Ireland from every country in the world!
• It was great to see Irish translator Frank Wynne on the International Booker Prize longlist for his work on Standing Heavy by GauZ. Frank has previously translated Virginie Despentes, Pierre Lemaitre and Isabel Allende and his translation of The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter won the 2022 Dublin Literary Award.
• It was announced this week that Colm Tóibín has penned a sequel to his novel Brooklyn, reuniting readers with his heroine Eilis Lacey 20 years after the events of his acclaimed bestseller. Long Island will be published in 2024
• One of Ireland’s most acclaimed theatre company’s Druid Theatre have announced DruidO’Casey a staging of Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy in one day. The Dublin Trilogy comprises the plays The Plough and the Stars, The Shadow of a Gunman and Juno and the Paycock and a large cast of 18 actors will perform over 40 roles in these three classic plays. The play cycle will visit Galway, Belfast and Dublin later this year.

• New Island Books were the winner of Irish Small Press of the Year at the British Books Awards 2023. New Island publish a broad range of debut, established authors and modern classics, in addition to Irish-interest non-fiction such as memoir and history, and a long-running series of short fiction for emerging adult readers called Open Door. Recent successes have included Nora by Nuala O’Connor and A Quiet Tide by Marianne Lee
• Irish actress Mary Murray won Best Actress at the BBC Audio Drama Awards this year for her performance in Sebastian Barry’s The Pride of Parnell Street. Mary starred in the original stage production of this wonderful play which features two linked monologues from a couple whose lives are torn apart by petty crime.
• And finally, while not strictly literary news, I couldn’t resist letting you all know about a very special screening of the recent Irish-set film Wild Mountain Thyme. Officially the film with the worst Irish accents in the world (and that includes Jamie Doranan), Wild Mountain Thyme has become a bit of a cult classic thanks to poor performances, cliched Oirish characters and a miscast Christopher Walken. The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival is hosting a special screening of this most awful of movies next month, complete with a Bad Irish Accent Competition and a drinking game where a drink is taken every time Jamie Dornan looks confused.

Ireland Month Irish Literature cillian murohy claire keegan frank wynne louise kennedy sara baume sean o'casey