In 1991, Irish writer Colm Tóibín's first novel, The South, was awarded the Irish Times/Aer Lingus Literature Prize, while in 1999, his third book, The Blackwater Lightship, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Between these two books was one of quiet intensity – The Heather Blazing – set in the same area of Wexford as […]
Name All The Animals, Alison Smith's first book, is a memoir of her family's grief in the aftermath of the death of her older brother, Roy. In the main, it details Alison's own sense of loss and her struggle to cope, particularly in the light of the competing pressures of adolescence, but it is also […]
(Copyleft Indymedia.ie Robert Looby.) We are no stranger to the detective whose private life is a mess. “The Job” is summarised on one website as follows: “Denis Leary … stars as Mike McNeil, an unorthodox New York detective who's trying to juggle work along with his complicated personal life,” (1) and in a review of […]
English writers have often been drawn to Italy, but generally more to the Tuscan sunshine, and romantic ideas of a simpler mediterranean life – far away from the hustle and bustle of cold and wet London. Neil Griffiths instead, in his first novel, has turned his eye southwards, to the dark and dangerous city of […]
Prior to the war in Iraq, peace protesters, the media, and the Governments involved, all spoke about the oil issue, whether it was to accuse or deny. In the “post-war” situation in Iraq however, in the absence of any weapons of mass destruction, little is being said in relation to the oil question. How much […]
A week before last year’s Justin Timberlake endorsed World Children’s Day (“November 20 at McDonald’s – Save the date to help the world’s children” © McDonald’s), McDonald’s formally announced its intent to further extend the brand with the launch of “McKids”, an ambitious plan to license the McDonald’s brand name to a range of companies […]
(Editor’s note: This article was written, deliberately, before the May Day protests in Dublin – as an analysis of the media’s attitudes to the protests. In the end, there were some scenes of violence in Dublin – with around 25 protesters arrested) A young man turns up on your doorstep. He is looking for your […]
Burning churches, braying mobs, senseless sectarian murder, and an international presence patently struggling to contain the carnage. In an environment where the cigarette lighter has become once again a weapon of mass expulsion, the Balkans have recently returned to international attention. And for all the wrong reasons. In a grotesque reverse image of 1999, Serb […]
Fair enough, I won't be a hypocrite I confess: every so often I do follow Il Grande Fratello (The Big Brother), the TV show on Canale 5 erroneously, it would seem, defined a 'Reality Show'. Erroneously, as it would appear that nearly all participants had some – even if minimum – previous TV exposure and […]