Dr Caroline Magennis explores Northern Irish Writing after the troubles
A lecturer at the University of Salford will publish a new book about contemporary Northern Irish fiction with Bloomsbury this summer.
Dr Caroline Magennis, Reader in 20th & 21st Century Literature and Chair of Council of the British Association for Irish Studies, will publish Northern Irish Writing After the Troubles: Intimacies, Affects, Pleasures in August.
This book which looks at how the 'post'-conflict period has led writers to a renewed engagement with intimacy and intimate life. Magennis’ research has featured on BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking programme and in other journalism and public engagement, including The Independent and The Irish Times.
This book will be launched by the English Association on August 12th and you can register here after 1st July. The event will be hosted by Professor Claire Lynch and feature a reading by the novelist Lucy Caldwell, who said of the book: “I was lucky enough to be an early reader of this book and it brings a radical, humane rush of energy to Northern Irish literary criticism. It’s a privilege to be so closely and sharply read alongside so many contemporary writers.”
The book capitalises on the exciting new energy in Northern Irish writing at present – from Anna Burns’ Booker winning novel Milkman to Jan Carson’s EU Prize for The Firestarters. At a time when British and Irish relations are being tested, the book marks a welcome intervention into debates around identity and relationships in a ‘post’-conflict society.
She said: “Having been raised in the North, it is my privilege to be able to promote those writers who are telling different kinds of stories to the ones we normally see on our screens. I hope the book does justice to the rich, vibrant writing scene in Belfast and beyond.”
The book has also received critical acclaim from the writing community, such as Dr Stefanie Lehner, Senior Lecturer in Irish Literature, Queen’s University Belfast who said that it was:
“Genuinely innovative. This book offers a refreshingly provocative and much needed critical reassessment of hegemonic readings of Northern Irish fiction. It affirms its timeliness by situating the importance of intimacy, the body, and pleasure not only within the specific context of post-Agreement Northern Ireland but also the current COVID-19 pandemic.”
Caroline has signed with a literary agent, London Book Fair Trailblazer Awardee Silé Edwards at Mushens Entertainment, for her third book, a literary and cultural study of women who take a different path in life. Watch this space!
On 12 August 2021 (17.00-18.30) Dr Magennis will host a special book launch for Northern Irish Writing After the Troubles: Intimacies, Affects, Pleasures. Tickets available here (booking opens 1 July 2021). Book here: https://englishassociation.ac.uk/12-august-2021-launch-of-northern-irish-writing-after-the-troubles-intimacies-affects-pleasures/
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