Note to students: Read the greats of Northern Irish literature. Then watch Derry Girls

As an academic, Caroline Magennis tried to explain what it was like growing up in Northern Ireland. Then she found that this great sitcom did it better

Michelle Mallon (Jamie-Lee O'Donnell), Orla McCool (Louisa Clare Harland), Erin Quinn (Saoirse Monica Jackson), Clare Devlin (Nicola Coughlan), and James Maguire (Dylan Llewellyn)

I teach a module about Northern Irish literature called Alternative Ulster, which covers all the texts you would expect, from the poetry of Seamus Heaney, Medbh McGuckian and Ciaran Carson and the fiction of Bernard MacLaverty through to newer writing such as Paul Maddern’s anthology Queering the Green and the short fiction of Lucy Caldwell. But in the last few years — initially just as a treat at the end of the course — we also started talking about Derry Girls.

It soon became clear that this was the most powerful way to discuss the ideas I had wanted to convey all semester. My students are from a range of backgrounds, but Derry Girls is an absolute hit for all of them. Especially at a time where British-Irish relations are at the forefront of the news agenda, it allows us to talk about some other important things: joy, resilience, 90s music and how Manchester is actually a bit like Derry.