Overview
Northern Ireland is one hundred years old. Northern Ireland does not exist. Both of these statements are true. It just depends on who you ask. How do you write about a place like this? THE STRANGERS' HOUSEĀ asks this question of the regionās greatest writers, living and dead. What have they made of Northern Ireland ā and what has Northern Ireland made of them?
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Northern Ireland is roughly the same size as the State of Connecticut, yet has produced an extraordinary number of celebrated poets and novelists. Louis MacNeice, too clever to be happy, formed by his childhood on the shores of Belfast Lough. C. S. Lewis, who discovered Narnia in the rolling drumlins and black rock of County Down. Anna Burns, chronicler of North Belfast and winner of the Booker Prize. And Seamus Heaney, the man of wry precision, the poet with the gift of surprise.
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As well as household names, Poots also examines writers who may be less familiar to an American readership. These include the dark and bawdy novels of Ian Cochrane, a celebrated raconteur obsessed with Columbo, and Forrest Reid, a man who saw Arcadia in the Irish countryside, and who was, perhaps, the Northās first queer author. Reading the work of these writers together produces a testament to over one hundred years of literary endeavor and human struggle. THE STRANGERS' HOUSEĀ is the story of how men and women have written about a home divided, and used their work to move, in the words of Seamus Heaney, ālike a double agent among the big concepts.ā
Authors and works discussedā¦
C. S. Lewis āĀ Surprised by Joy
Seamus Heaney āĀ North
Anna Burns āĀ Milkman
Louis MacNeice āĀ Autumn Journal
Forrest Reid āĀ Brian Westby
Derek Mahon āĀ A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford
Michael Longley āĀ Kindertotenlieder
Medbh McGuckian āĀ Drawing Ballerinas
Patrick Kavanagh āĀ The Green Fool
Ian Cochrane āĀ F for Ferg
This book title, The Strangers' House (Writing Northern Ireland), ISBN: 9781538701577, by Alexander Poots, published by Grand Central Publishing (January 24, 2023) is available in hardcover. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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