Arlen House

Brims with insight, empathy and wry humour. In his third poetry collection Gerry Boland movingly maps the territory of love found, shared and lost, while exploring what gives life meaning. These finely-crafted poems carry a particular and effecting fidelity to the rhythms of the human heart.

Sixteen stories, sixteen intriguing situations, and a fascinating cast of characters populate The Far Side of Happiness, Boland's debut short fiction collection.

Poet, short story writer, and children's author, Boland was born and lived for much of his life in Dublin before moving to Roscommon, where he was appointed writer-in-residence by Roscommon County Council. In the Space Between is his second poetry collection.

This is the story of two young people whose lives are changing. They are both trying to make their way in the world. Rachel’s estranged father has just come back into her life, and Frank is trying to find his feet as a newly qualified barrister. Circumstances lead both to the West of Ireland where they meet on a train. As Rachel and Frank navigate new lives, they learn much about themselves and each other

Here are the stories of boys, mere children, waiting in the square to be hired by a rich farmer who comes and squeezes young muscles before making his choice. Here is talk of hard borders and heartache; the harsh life of the mill workers; the dark secrets of the river; a journey with the poet's father on the last train to Sion Mills.

This collection radiates beauty, honesty, and an authentic poetic voice that seems to overturn everything ugly in human experience. Tender portraits of family roots accompany a kaleidoscopic Strabane and touch on the anxiety of growing up in fraught political times.

Boyle's luminous poems are intimate portraits of confined and unsung lives, furnished with a sensuous exactness. Hermione, mourning her lost children, is cheered by the "blushing crimson tips" appearing in her winter garden. Birds are significant reminders of life, colour, and wry defiance in these self-assured poems of hard-won sustenance.

Deirdre Brennan was born in Dublin in 1934 and brought up in Tipperary, she now lives in Carlow.

Staying Thin for Daddy is the debut English-language short story collection from Brennan, one of Ireland's leading writers in both the Irish and English languages. The book was long-listed for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Collection Award.

Dráma scríofa ag Deirdre Brennan. A drama written by Deirdre Brennan.