One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is the drive and the creativity of people living and working in rural Ireland, writes Fergus Finlay

With an acclaimed new Irish short-story writer cropping up seemingly every other day, it can be difficult to stand out.

With three of the four Goldsmiths prizes for experimental and inventive writing going to Irish writers (Kevin Barry, Mike McCormack, and Eimear McBride), perhaps we should get ready for a deluge of wannabe invention. 

Des O’Driscoll shares his picks for the week ahead

An Irish author who wrote an entire book in a single, novel-length sentence has praised his publisher for being willing to take a risk after it scooped a £10,000 (€11,480) prize.

Diverse and exciting writing talent has been shortlisted across 14 categories for the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards.

Richard Fitzpatrick selects an eclectic mix of summer reading options

After being dropped by Cape, Mike McCormack, once described as Ireland’s most underrated writer, has returned with an original novel of ideas, writes Sue Leonard.

BALANCING its outward perspective with an interrogatory approach to the secrets hidden in the human heart and mind, the 15 stories of Aiden O’Reilly’s very fine debut offer the reader a series of candid dispatches from a changing Europe.

Greetings, Hero

Dublin Writers Festival hit the right note with an engaging programme, says Orlagh Ní Arrachtain.

There will be some very familiar faces at the Literary Tent at this weekend’s Electric Picnic festival.

IN ‘Of One Mind’, one of the short stories in Mike McCormack’s new collection, Forensic Songs, the protagonist describes a ‘weightlessness’ that he has come to experience in his everyday life, a sense of being “at a remove, standing at arm’s length from myself.”

Forensic Songs

Donal Ryan

Condensed essays on individual novels are too short for academics and too analytical for the public, but will appeal to students, says Val Nolan

The 10 novels shortlisted for the International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award have been announced today.

The shortlist for the €100,000 IMPAC award for literary fiction was revealed this morning, says Carl Dixon

Tommy Stack has been included in an unchanged Limerick team for Saturday's All-Ireland SFC fourth round qualifier against Wexford in Portlaoise (throw-in 7pm).

SMARTGRID technology firm FMC-Tech has been sold to General Electric, in a move expected to result in rapid growth of the business in overseas markets.

Limerick manager Maurice Horan has handed debuts to three players for Saturday's Munster SFC semi-final against Kerry at the Gaelic Grounds (throw-in 6.45pm).

THE Stray Sod Country is a metaphor, a fable which the characters of Patrick McCabe’s new novel continually fall back on. It describes being lost in what were once reassuring surroundings, being intimidated or deceived by the very things that used to make you feel secure. It is a way of explaining things, “frightening emotions, things like depression or extreme loneliness”.

GAA President Christy Cooney yesterday unveiled the Club Wall at Croke Park which carries the crests of GAA clubs both at home and abroad, and revealed that he is heartened by the progress on improving lines of communication with grassroots clubs over the past year.

Glanmire Community College 1-16 Árd Scoil Rís 1-14