Next year will mark six decades since celebrated Irish novelist and short story writer John McGahern was censored and banned in his own country. Now, another celebrated writer – Anne Enright, Ireland’s first-ever “laureate” for fiction – is commemorating McGahern’s life and career with fond memories as well as new revelations. Back in 1965, McGahern wrote The Dark, which … [Read more...] about Book Notes: Enright Honors McGahern
Books
But Always Meeting Ourselves
IA Newsletter, June 15, 2024
A LONDON nursing home. The shape of a figure beneath the sheets. My grandfather could just about whisper. He wanted a cigarette and a glass of whiskey. “Come up on the bed here, young fella,” he said, gruffly. It was 1975 and I was 10 years old and it would be the first — and probably last — time I’d ever see him. Gangrene was taking him away. He reached for the bottle and … [Read more...] about But Always Meeting Ourselves
Maid as Muse: Emily Dickinson’s Irish Connection
Aífe Murray tells Irish America the story of how an Irish maid influenced Emily Dickinson's poetry and saved it from destruction. Genius does not exist in a vacuum. This was the message taken away from Aífe Murray, author of Maid as Muse, when she spoke at Glucksman Ireland House on March 25th. The topic was Emily Dickinson, whose poetic prowess has been understood as the … [Read more...] about Maid as Muse: Emily Dickinson’s Irish Connection
God Box: A Daughter’s Story
IA Newsletter May 4, 2024
When Mary Lou Quinlan (GABELLI ’82) was an M.B.A. student attending classes during the evening while working full time at Avon Products, she pursued what she believed would be her lifetime career. She worked incredibly hard to realize her dreams of becoming a successful corporate businesswoman, moving from Avon into the advertising world where she was SVP/EVP at DDB and … [Read more...] about God Box: A Daughter’s Story
“I Never Did Like Politics”
IA Newsletter
March 16, 2024
"I Never Did Like Politics": How Fiorello La Guardia Became America's Mayor, and Why He Still MattersTerry Golway literally wrote the book on Tammany Hall, the Irish-dominated political machine that changed American politics - for better and worse. His 2014 study Machine Made: Tammany Hall and the Creation of American Politics is the acknowledged authoritative history of the … [Read more...] about “I Never Did Like Politics”