Writers looking to the past to improve modern Irish literature

A special edition of The Stinging Fly journal may look back to 1916, but it really reflects the rude health of modern Irish literature, writes Marjorie Brennan

THE future of Irish literature has never looked brighter but now some of the country’s finest writing talent are looking to the past, assembling to add their voices to the chorus of commemoration for the Easter Rising.

Literary journal The Stinging Fly, which has nurtured and promoted Irish writing since 1997, has released a bumper spring issue titled ‘In the Wake of the Rising’, guest-edited by writer Seán O’Reilly.