Irish fiction is currently experiencing a new golden age, one in which new writers are coming forward to ask urgent questions. What does it mean to live in Ireland now? How can we learn from (or, if necessary escape) the past? And what forms of writing can we invent to capture what it means to be alive today? This work is being created across the island, but much of it is being driven by writers who are either from Galway or closely connected with our region. For this special issue, we wanted to celebrate the work of three of those writers, bringing previously unpublished stories by them to our readers.
Tanya Farrelly is the Arts Council/NUI Galway Writer in Residence for 2021. A festival director and author, she has published short fiction with Arlen House (her latest collection, Nobody Needs to Know, is due from them soon). She has also written the novels The Girl Behind the Lens and When Your Eyes Close, thrillers that give us new ways to see familiar Irish settings and themes.
Read Tanya’s piece here.
Elaine Feeney is a poet and novelist. She teaches Creative Writing here at NUI Galway and in St Jarlath’s College in Tuam. She was also centrally involved in the Tuam Oral History project. Her debut novel As You Were has just been published to great acclaim. The novel has already won the Kate O’Brien Award 2021, and has been shortlisted for the McKitterick Prize for authors first published in their 40s.
Read Elaine’s piece here.
Deirdre Sullivan is a graduate of the university and is one of Ireland’s most acclaimed writers for children and young adults. Her book Savage Her Reply has just been named the Children’s Books Ireland ‘book of the year’ – and her first collection of stories for adults, I Want to Know that I Will Be Okay, has just been published.
Read Deirdre’s piece here.
In their different ways, these are three genuinely inspirational writers, breaking down the boundaries that seek to limit how books are written and what their subjects should be. Some readers will already know these authors’ works well; others will be encountering them for the first time. Either way, we hope you enjoy the opportunity to savour their new stories.
In today’s hyper developed and interconnected world, we see isolated actions give rise to global repercussions like never before. As a framework for addressing global issues, the UN Sustainable Development Goals are a call to action for universities to consider the wider impact of their research. Here VP for Research & Innovation, Prof James Livesey explains how the SDGs have inspired a new approach to research strategy and prioritisation.
Easy access to virtual social space has seen young people face dangers of cyberbullying, sextortion and online victimisation. Many primary schools have taken steps to ban smartphones on school grounds, following the launch of government guidelines on restrictions of smartphone use among young people. According to Assistant Professor of Psychology, Dr Mairéad Foody, research is key in informing quality prevention and intervention among schools, parents and guardians.
