Frank Shovlin – författare

Frank Shovlin examines in detail six Irish literary periodicals that appeared in the first forty years after the partitioning on Ireland. The six titles are The Irish Statesman (1923-30), The Dublin Magazine (1923-58), Ireland To-Day (1936-38), The Bell (1940-54), Envoy (1949-51) and Rann (1948-53). These journals, while not the only examples of the genre in these neglected decades of Irish cultural history, make the finest and most influential contributions towards the development of a native Irish literary tradition in the earliest years of both Irish states, north and south of the border. The manner in which each of the journals was established and run is considered, with an emphasis on varying editorial personalities and their impact on each periodical. Shovlin emphasizes the common themes of literary realism, the ideological struggle between monolithic nationalism and liberal cosmopolitanism, and the importance of publishing context in the interpretation of literary works. The careers of figures such as Patrick Kavanagh, Seán O Faoláin, Liam O Flaherty and John Hewitt are re-examined in the light of their involvement with periodical publication. The author concludes with an overview of the progress of the literary periodical in Ireland in the decades after the closure of The Dublin Magazine in 1958. This book is an important contribution to recent growing scholarship on the role of literary magazines specifically and history of the book generally both in Ireland and elsewhere.

I am no good at letters. John McGahern, 1963John McGahern is consistently hailed as one of the finest Irish writers since James Joyce and Samuel Beckett.This volume collects some of the witty, profound and unfailingly brilliant letters that he exchanged with family, friends and literary luminaries - such as Seamus Heaney, Colm Tóibín and Paul Muldoon - over the course of a well-travelled life.It is one of the major contributions to the study of Irish and British literature of the past thirty years, acting not just as a crucial insight into the life and works of a much-revered writer - but also a history of post-war Irish literature and its close ties to British and American literary life.'One of the greatest writers of our era.' Hilary Mantel'McGahern brings us that tonic gift of the best fiction, the sense of truth - the sense of transparency that permits us to see imaginary lives more clearly than we see our own.' John Updike

The definitive biography of Ireland's greatest post-war writer, rich in dramatic revelations bringing to life the world that inspired his masterpieces.On his death in 2006, John McGahern was hailed as 'the most important Irish novelist since Samuel Beckett' (Guardian) that 'everyone should read' (Colm Tóibín) and 'one of the greatest writers of our era' (Hilary Mantel). But who was the enigmatic man behind the literary myth?McGahern became famous in 1965 when his novel The Dark - exposing child abuse in the rural Irish community - was banned for its 'pornographic content'. But his private life before and after has been shrouded in mystery. One of seven children on a farm ruled by his militant father, McGahern's universe was shattered by the death of his mother when he was nine. After studying at University College Dublin, his early marriage failed - and once dismissed from his position as a teacher after the censorship scandal, his turmoiled love affairs as an exile in London lead to the secret birth of a son. But it was the moment he met his future wife, Madeline Green - his partner for the rest of his life - that defined his future existence of literary creativity.After decades of research, Frank Shovlin has crafted a magisterial portrait of this elusive figure, drawing on hours of new interviews and unseen archival material to illuminate a cultural legend.

'Magnificent.' Irish Times'Much to savour.' The Times'An event in Irish culture.' TLSThe collected letters of John McGahern, 'one of the greatest writers of our era' (Hilary Mantel) and 'the most important Irish novelist since Samuel Beckett.' (Guardian)John McGahern is consistently hailed as one of the finest Irish writers since James Joyce and Samuel Beckett.This volume collects some of the witty, profound and unfailingly brilliant letters that he exchanged with family, friends and literary luminaries - such as Seamus Heaney, Colm Tóibín and Paul Muldoon - over the course of a well-travelled life.It is one of the major contributions to the study of Irish and British literature of the past thirty years, acting not just as a crucial insight into the life and works of a much-revered writer - but also a history of post-war Irish literature and its close ties to British and American literary life.'McGahern brings us that tonic gift of the best fiction, the sense of truth - the sense of transparency that permits us to see imaginary lives more clearly than we see our own.' John Updike

This book suggests that James Joyce, like Yeats and his fellow Revivalists, was attracted to the west of Ireland as a place of authenticity and freedom. It shows how his acute historical sensibility is reflected in Dubliners, posing new questions about one of the most enduring collections of short stories ever written. The answers provided are a fusion of history and literary criticism, using close readings that balance techniques of realism and symbolism. The result is an original study that shines new light on Dubliners and Joyce’s later masterpieces.

Touchstones examines the ways in which John McGahern became a writer through his reading. This reading, it is shown, was both extensive and intensive, and tended towards immersion in the classics. As such, new insights are provided into McGahern’s admiration and use of writers as diverse as Dante Alighieri, William Blake, James Joyce, Albert Camus and several others. Evidence for these claims is found both through close reading of McGahern’s published texts as well as unprecedented sleuthing in his extensive archive of papers held at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The ultimate intention of the book is to draw attention to the very literary and writerly nature of McGahern as an artist, and to place him, not just as a great Irish writer, but as part of a long and venerable European tradition.

Touchstones examines the ways in which John McGahern became a writer through his reading. This reading, it is shown, was both extensive and intensive, and tended towards immersion in the classics. As such, new insights are provided into McGahern’s admiration and use of writers as diverse as Dante Alighieri, William Blake, James Joyce, Albert Camus and several others. Evidence for these claims is found both through close reading of McGahern’s published texts as well as unprecedented sleuthing in his extensive archive of papers held at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The ultimate intention of the book is to draw attention to the very literary and writerly nature of McGahern as an artist, and to place him, not just as a great Irish writer, but as part of a long and venerable European tradition.