Irish Writing London Volume 2 Post-War to the Present [Hardcover]

The presence of Irish writers is almost invisible in literary studies of London. The Irish Writing London redresses the critical deficit. A range of experts on particular Irish writers reflect on the diverse experiences and impact this immigrant group has had on the city. Such sustained attention to a location and concern of Irish writing, long passed over, opens up new terrain to not only reveal but create a history of Irish-London writing.

Alongside discussions of MacNeice, Boland and McGahern, the autobiography of Brendan Behan and identity of Irish-language writers in London is considered. Written by an internal array of scholars, these new essays on key figures challenge the deep-seated stereotype of what constitutes the proper domain of Irish writing, producing a study that is both culturally and critically alert and a dynamic contribution to literary criticism of the city.

The first study to consider how Irish writers have regarded, reported and represented London in their fiction, drama and poetry.

Introduction: The London-Irish - Insiders/Outsiders,Tom Herron\ Notes on Contributors \ Timeline \ 1. Gaelic London and London Gaels in Donall MacAmhlaigh'sAn Irish Navvy,Jean-Philippe Hentz\ 2. Borstal Boys and Cockney Chinas,Claire Lynch\ 3. What she lost and how: Eavan Boland's London childhood,Lucy Collins\ 4. Aliens: London in Irish women's writing,Heather Ingman\ 5. Netherworld: London in John McGahern's FictionGrace Tighe Ledwidge\ 6. Displaced diasporas: FromDeora?ochttoKings,?adaoin Ni Mhuircheartaigh\ 7. Persistence of memory: an exegesis of exile inI Could Read the Sky,Thomas O'Grady\ 8. Troubled Tales: Short Stories about the Irish in 1970s London,Tony Murray\ 9. Going Transmetropolitan in the County Hell: Shane MacGowan's Early London Lyrics,J. Greg Matthews\ Bibliography \ Index