They could be anyone, maybe even you.
Walking through Dublin, turning corners, and admiring older buildings, it is easy to imagine how writers once absorbed this city. Irish writers have walked through the gates of Trinity for centuries and created something extraordinary. Their names and works surround the students of Trinity. Jonathan Swift, Bram Stoker, Samuel Beckett, etc., all with societies and theatres named after them. Other names, such as Oscar Wilde and Sally Rooney, have now become trigger words that draw people to the college. Since the gates opened, Trinity has housed great Irish writers. With thousands of students listening to lectures and studying in the Ussher, the question presents itself: Who are the New Irish writers? Are they among us?
Expectations are high for these writers, but they have a mass of historical inspiration to draw from. Dublin itself is full of a diverse population and is thoroughly in tune with the phenomena of the modern literary scene: Yet, it is still able to adhere to its Irish culture. In an interview with two current Trinity writers, Loulou MacHale and Katie Flynn, they revealed how Dublin acts as an inspiration. As MacHale said, "It's just the people…and what I love about Dublin is the snatches of conversations that you get," Dublin is a melting pot of cultures and contexts, and its colourful inhabitants are starting points for many stories. Flynn spoke on the history of Dublin itself serving as inspiration for her works, "There's so much history in this city, and I love writing about it. Dublin is a city where I feel history is alive because you really can't escape it," the same city that inspired so many before her continues to resonate with writers today.
Irish writers are intimate people, incredible creators and artists, and as Dr Paul Delaney, an associate professor at Trinity whose research focuses on twentieth-century and contemporary Irish writing suggests, "writers build on what they know." Studying Irish literature and authors helps produce other great pieces of work. Irish writers are essential, and for the avid reader of Irish literature, English and French Student Matthew Regan, this is because "The Irish writer itself doesn't feel itself associated with a particular genre," therefore, these authors are not put under the pressure of expectations. They are the beginning of their way of expression, and that is what readers cling to. Delaney urges new writers to "be true to yourself" and respect the heritage that is Irish writing: These should not be mutually exclusive.
Irish writers are world-renowned figures who speak with intention and deliberation, and while these factors are frequently in pieces of activism, they also shine through in various works. Student writers Aiden Sheary, an English and Film student, and Jenni Anago, a Genetics student, spoke on writing in multiple genres. For Sheary, that is a "script/screenplay format," while Anago writes, "more reflective pieces that fixate themselves on the genres of psychological thriller and mystery," which adds to the diversity of Irish writing. English student Annemarie O'Connor focuses on "poetry" and
drawing from her "current emotions" to guide her work. While writers such as MacHale focus on comedy because "it's most true to life, those stories, the serious/ emotional ones, which are most interesting to write… require comedy to be real," with comedy capturing the essence of life; a story like that is seldomly untrue to the author, which uncannily follows the advice of Delaney.
Yet tradition must also adapt for modernity. Some writers, such as Anago and Flynn, do not worry about an audience for their work. Anago states, "I write because it soothes my soul. even with an audience of one, or an audience of none, I'd still happily write," and Flynn takes a similar approach by saying, "Right now, I want to write from life - my main goal at the moment is to try and process that through my art," showing that some writing is not written with the world in mind. Other writers, such as MacHale, write with a goal of exposure even though our global online network means that authors face more criticism from a wider audience. MacHale finds that readers nowadays look to connect writing to the world around them: "A story's impact is no longer decided by the story; people are viewing it alongside its place in society."
Irish writers are intelligent, creative, and witty, challenging readers' expectations. When asked if it was important to them to identify as an Irish writer, MacHale agreed, "Yes, Ireland and Irish people are what has taught me how to tell stories." Kitty Beattie, an English and Film student with a well-rounded background in editing, stated, "To be an Irish writer is not necessarily to be Irish but to understand Ireland and the beauties and issues of the country." In our globalising world, the meaning of an 'Irish writer,' perhaps, has changed: Regan imagines "the next Irish writer being someone writing out of Ireland." Trinity has had many international writers, and Dublin is now a blossoming global city. Sheary says, "I feel Dublin is influenced by the writing as much as it is vice-versa," the influence will make the writers Irish, not their line (or lack thereof) lineage.
Whoever these new writers are, the world is at their fingertips, and there is an abundance of people waiting to read their work. So as you read this article and draw your conclusions, I have to ask, are you one of the new Irish writers?