- February 29, 2024
Was Oscar Wilde right? Did the Irish make the English language beautiful?
The land of poets and storytellers; myth and magic; rebels and saints has produced some of the world’s greatest writers dating back as far at the 6th century. You can decide for yourself if Wilde was right by browsing North Hill’s extensive offerings of books by Irish writers. Some of the writers you’ll find:
William Butler Yeats: Yeats wrote plays, novels and short stories almost always with Irish characters. But it’s as a poet that he is most revered. He is considered one of the greatest poets of the 20th century.
James Joyce: Joyce is the author of landmark novels: Finnegan’s Wake, Ulysses, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young, and the Dubliners. His work was banned for a time in the United Kingdom and the United States for obscenity. Now, he is celebrated all over the world as one of the great literary giants of the 20th century.
Alice McDermott: An Irish-American contemporary novelist, Alice McDermott is a National Book Award recipient. She has written 8 novels, including Charming Billy about an alcoholic whose death brings his family together.
Seamus Heaney: An Irish poet and playwright, he received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1959.
Colm Tóibín: A contemporary writer, poet, essayist, journalist, playwright and critic, Tóibín has written several novels and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for his book, The Master, a fictionalized version of the inner life of Henry James. Other notable novels include Brooklyn and Nora Webster.
Maeve Binchy: Irish novelist, playwright, short story teller and journalist, Binchy wrote about small-town life in Ireland. She published 16 novels and was awarded The British Book Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1999.
Oscar Wilde: A writer of novels and plays, Wilde was known for his witticisms. Arriving at a U.S. Customs gate in 1882 he announced he had “nothing to declare but his genius.” He spent two years in prison in the U.K. for the crime of homosexuality (1895-97)
These mentioned above and so many more whose work and genius have illuminated imaginations, provoked thought, and inspired ideas are all at your fingertips in the North Hill library.
Photo above right from Wikipedia: clockwise from top left: Jonathan Swift; W.B. Yeats; Oscar Wilde; James Joyce; Colm Tóibín ; Seamus Heaney; Samuel Beckett: G.B. Shaw
Further reading:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-butler-yeats
https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Joyce
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/how-seamus-heaney-became-a-poet-of-happiness
https://english.columbia.edu/content/colm-toibin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maeve_Binchy
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oscar-Wilde