The short story flourishes in Ireland. All Irish conditions seem to favour it. With its roots
in the fertile soil of the Gaelic folk tradition it appeared to grow and thrive on the
discontinuities of Irish history - the war of independence civil war political division. The
first Golden Age was in the middle years of the 20th century an extraordinary flowering of
stories from Elizabeth Bowen Seán Ó Faoláin Flann O'Brien Frank O'Connor Samuel Beckett
Maeve Brennan Edna O'Brien (the list could go on) came at a time when Ireland was repressed
and inward-looking dominated by the church and enervated by migration. But when the boom times
came in the 1990s it all happened again. The liberal globalized ethnically diverse society
of 21st century Ireland is still witnessing a vibrant blossoming of short fiction from Anne
Enright Roddy Doyle Colm Tóibín Claire Keegan Sally Rooney Kevin Barry Lucy Caldwell Yan
Ge .... Such a bumper crop of talent!
