When March rolls around we all become a little bit Irish, but our guest authors are deeply attuned to their ancestral roots throughout the entire year. In our AuthorsOnTheWeb IRISH ROUNDTABLE Liam Clancy, Eoin Colfer, Marita Conlon-McKenna, Máire B. de Paor, Maureen Dezell, Emma Donoghue, Randy Lee Eickhoff, Andrew M. Greeley, Mary E. Lyons, Morgan Llywelyn, Regina McBride, Malachy McCourt, Jamie O'Neill, Martin Roper, and Niall Williams discuss what role their heritage has played in their writing, and their feelings on the humor, melancholy, and mysticism of the Gaelic soul.
Meet
the Authors:
Questions
» 1. AOTW: How has your Irish or Irish-American background influenced your writing?
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» 2. AOTW: Ireland always has been a hotbed of politics. Do those of you who write fiction intentionally make political statements in your work? How do those of you who write nonfiction choose your subjects?
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» 3. AOTW:A few years ago, Frank McCourt told Bookreporter.com, "The English are getting out of Hong Kong this year. Ireland is next. They say the sun never sets on the British empire --- well, baby, it's setting." What are your feelings about the Brits?
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» 4. AOTW: There are so many stereotypes attached to the Irish. Do you find yourself working to counter those in your writing?
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» 5. AOTW: While we are on this subject --- what DO you drink? And do you drink when you write?
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» 6. AOTW: Joyce. Yeats. Beckett. Wilde. What is it about Ireland that's produced such a disproportionate share of great writers? What Irish writers have influenced you? Who, in your opinion, are the Irish writers people should read to get a good picture of Ireland's literary heritage?
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» 7. AOTW: How would you reconcile the two most frequent emotions in Irish literature --- humor and melancholy?
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» 8. AOTW: There's a rich strain of mysticism in Ireland. Has it touched you? How does Catholicism figure into your work, if at all?
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» 9. AOTW: Ever wish you were Bono instead of an author?
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» 10. AOTW: What advice do you give to aspiring writers?
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» 11. AOTW: What are you working on now?
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