Kevin Barry, IMPAC Prize winning novelist and short story writer, and a self-confessed ‘frustrated actor’ reads his short story ‘Apparitions’ which brings ghostly appearances of Beckett, Joyce, and more to modern day Dublin.
The inimitable and self-confessed ‘frustrated actor’ Kevin Barry reads from his mercilessly satirical short story The Apparitions during which a series of inappropriately located ghosts of Irish writers appear to the denizens of 21st century Dublin city from Beckett’s appearance at the gable end of a roof in Ringsend to Joyce’s dangerous and inebriated sway above a Ukranian ‘slag house’ on Clanbrassil St. The story weaves (with a deliberately Joycean mischief) through the themes of the Irish literary ‘Canon’ and reverence towards the figures to the increasing discomfort of their blending/ crashing into the modern rhythms of the city and its habits of appearance.
Barry is no stranger to the short story and has had his collections praised from the rooftops by everyone to the selective jury of the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, which he won in 2013 for his futuristic western/ descent into dialectical frenzy The City of Bohane.
The video is part of the innovative Storymap collection - a mobile app which lets users tap into the hidden stories of Dublin as they wander around its streets. The app rejuvenates the age old tradition of storytelling - combining it with the latest technology in film and mobile apps to capture the essence of Dublin life, past and present.