Northern Exposure

No 468 One by One in the Darkness by Deirdre Madden

It just goes to show that in this small country nearly every family has undergone a loss. Even minor psychological scars run as deep here as bullet holes but, without them, our writing would not have its passion and depth. Northern Irish writer Rosemary Jenkinson in The Irish Times One by One in the Darkness…

No 485 Fat Lad by Glenn Patterson

Glenn Patterson’s Fat Lad has long been described as one of the quintessential Belfast novels. The title comes from a mnemonic used in Northern Ireland to remember the names of the six counties – Fermanagh, Antrim, Tyrone, Londonderry, Armagh, Down – and yet the entire book is set in the capital city. Drew Linden, Belfast…

Genetics by Sinéad Morrissey: A poem for #readingirelandmonth20

100 Books by Writers from Northern Ireland for #readingirelandmonth20

No 494 All The Beggars Riding by Lucy Caldwell #readingirelandmonth20

Lucy Caldwell’s third novel All the Beggars Riding takes its title from the saying ‘if wishes were horses, beggars would ride’. Lara Moorhouse is almost forty and is struggling to come to terms with the break-up of her relationship and the recent death of her mother. Lara has spent her whole life wishing that…

The Good Son by Paul McVeigh #readingirelandmonth20

Northern Exposure: No 498 Ratman’s Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert

Mother says there are rats in the rockery. ‘You’ll have to do something about them,’ she says, ‘or they’ll over-run the whole place.’ Ratman’s Notebooks was published in 1968 and was one of only four books that Stephen Gilbert wrote before he stopped writing altogether. The fact that it is still in print is probably…

Ciaran Carson, 1948 – 2019

Last Sunday, the inimitable poet and musician Ciaran Carson died after an illness. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, into an Irish-speaking family, poet Ciaran Carson attended Queen’s University, Belfast. He held the position of traditional arts officer of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland from 1975 to 1998 and was appointed director of the Seamus…

The Jewel by Neil Hegarty

Northern Exposure: The International by Glenn Patterson (book 13 of #20booksofsummer)

Novels about the city of Belfast have a tendency to be set during the Troubles. It is too ingrained in the very fabric of life here to be otherwise. Glenn Patterson’s novel The International does something different. In January 1967, the inaugural meeting of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association too place in The International…