by Colm Tóibín
First published 2001
Colm Tóibín assembles the complete tradition of Irish fiction written in English across three centuries. The collection opens with Jonathan Swift, born in 1667, and extends to Emma Donoghue, born in 1969. Nearly 100 writers appear between these bookends, including Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Iris Murdoch, William Trevor, and Roddy Doyle. Tóibín selects each piece with care and provides background context in his introduction. His commentary illuminates the connections between generations of Irish storytellers. The anthology reveals how Irish fiction evolved from Swift's satirical prose through Joyce's modernist innovations to contemporary voices like Donoghue. Tóibín, recognized by the Irish Independent as the finest Irish writer of his generation and winner of the 1995 E.M. Forster Prize, brings both scholarly insight and creative understanding to his curation. The result maps the full landscape of Irish literary achievement in English.
Genres: anthologies, irish-literature, 20th-century, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, generational-saga
Setting: Ireland
Period: 17th-century, 18th-century, 19th-century, 20th-century, 21st-century
1120 pages · Paperback · Penguin