The Irish Times

Shelf life – Paul Clements on the welcome return of bookshops

An Irishman’s Diary

Mon Jul 19 2021 - 19:01

Monique Roffey: “Not all white people are the same, not all white women are the same”

The Mermaid of Black Conch author on women, race and winning Costa Book of the Year

Fri Jan 29 2021 - 06:00

Indelicacy: An extraordinary feminist fable about women and art

Amina Cain’s debut novel on the art monster within is remarkable in its scope

Wed Sept 23 2020 - 06:00

Donald Clarke: Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before

Stephenie Meyer has retold Twilight from the vampire’s point of view. It’s a popular ploy

Fri Aug 07 2020 - 05:00

100 books by women you have to read

Iris Murdoch, Edna O’Brien, Marian Keyes and Eimear McBride all appear on the list

Mon Jun 04 2018 - 16:14

Maeve Brennan: loneliness elevated to an art form

Eileen Battersby reviews The Long-Winded Lady, Maeve Brennan’s New Yorker sketches, as part of our extensive coverage marking today's centenary of her birth

Fri Jan 06 2017 - 05:00

Fintan O’Toole’s top British novels

The Irish Times literary editor was one of 82 foreigners polled by the BBC to choose the 100 best British novels. Read how he got on

Tue Dec 08 2015 - 16:25

Mad men and women in fiction

From Jane Eyre’s madwoman in the attic to Captain Ahab in Moby Dick and Francie in The Butcher Boy, madness is a recurring and compelling theme in literature

Fri May 02 2014 - 01:27

Brought to Book: Linda Spalding on her literary life

‘I had to remould my brain to write “The Follow”. It involved three trips to Borneo and years of reading and studying and thinking hard about human beings and our place in the natural world’

Mon Apr 28 2014 - 01:00

Ten great opening lines in literature

These are some of our favourite opening lines - could you write one of your own? Post it in the comment box below. We might even find a suitable prize for the best or funniest

Fri Mar 21 2014 - 00:01