Michael Magee, ‘Derry Girls’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland’ win Ewart Biggs Literary Prize – Irish Times

In tomorrow’s Irish Times, Roisin Ingle talks to Jay McGuinness about his dystopian young adult novel Blood Flowers, and talks about his career and latest novel What Happened to Birdie Troy with Rachel English? A Q&A about “Ta?” will also be posted.

Review of “We Are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt’s Lessons in Love and Disobedience” by Ian Hughes, written by Lindsay Stonebridge. Oliver Farley: “Our Enemies Will Disappear” (by Yaroslav Trofimov) Talks about Brian May, Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative Party, and Northern Ireland. Michael Cronin talks about his best new translations. About “Today’s Cities Are Dying” by James Connor Patterson and Des Fitzgerald. Jon Boyne on Kylie Reid’s “Come and Get It.” Eilis Ní Duibne from The Long-Winded Lady by Maeve Brennan. Tony Clayton-Lee talks about Thomas Burgess’ Wild Colonial Boys. Sarah Keating on children’s books. Brigid O’Dea in “Sleepless” by Annabelle Abbs. John Self “Hard by a Great Forest” by Leo Vardiashvili. Neil Hegarty stars in Roisin Maguire’s Night Swimmers.

This weekend’s Irish Times Eason book offer is Don’t Look Back by Joe Spain. This best-selling thriller can be purchased for €5.99, with a €5 discount when you buy the newspaper at any branch.

Michael Magee’s ‘Close to Home’ joins two TV shows, the final episode of the Channel 4 series ‘Derry Girls’ and the five-part series ‘Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland’ , was selected as a finalist for the 28th Christopher Ewart Biggs Literary Award. BBC2 television series. The play, The Agreement, by Owen McCafferty. Uncivil War: the British Army and the Troubles, 1966-1975 by Hugh Bennett (Cambridge University Press) and Walking to Good Friday: Northern Ireland’s Literature and the Peace Process by Marilyn Richtalik (Oxford University Press) ) are two academic works.

Professor Roy Foster, speaking on behalf of the jury, said: “This year’s shortlist features a range of analyzes of Northern Ireland’s recent past from a variety of genres.

“This document contains a forensically detailed and highly readable account of British military records in the early days of the Troubles, and provides a clear picture of the military mind and the way in which by 1975 the military realized that the conflict was irresolvable. It reveals much about the strategic decisions made. The final episode of the legendary television series Derry Girls movingly evokes the impact of the Good Friday Agreement. A poignant novel about the world of young people dealing with questionable futures in the aftermath of community violence. A brilliantly accomplished play that traces the negotiations and personal conflicts behind the agreement. It is a major television series that tracks the unfolding of the Troubles through a variety of voices and testimonies, many of which are rarely heard. and an explorative and original study of the interplay between creative literature and the political developments that culminated in the Accord.

“Taken as a whole, this powerful list showcases works that defined in unexpected ways the path to the agreement reached just a quarter of a century ago, not only for its tremendous accomplishments, but also for the work that served as the basis for the agreement. It reminds us of the fragility of structures.”

The winner of the £7,500 prize, created in memory of the British Ambassador to Ireland who was murdered by the IRA in 1976, will be announced at the Irish Embassy in London on February 27.

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Following the success of Fitzcarraldo Editions and And Other Stories, Foundry Editions is a new independent publisher unearthing hidden gems in and around the Mediterranean Basin and bringing them to English-language readers for the first time. The first title he will be published in June.

Founder Richard Village said: “Our mission is to discover writers who are new to English speakers and to share the joy of reading their stories from regions of the world that are always a source of cultural and emotional inspiration for English speakers. We want to be an example of an important cultural movement that brings high-quality translated fiction into the hands of readers.”

Foundry Editions will release the first three books this summer. The first stop is a seminal novel by Constantia Soteriou/translated by Lina Protopapa that explores Cyprus’ turbulent history through the island’s iconic Ledra Palace Hotel. Next up is “Italy and Your Little Problems” by Maria Grazia Calandrone/translated by Antonella Lettieri. A poetic and philosophical rumination on the impoverished and marginalized women of southern Italy. and Fur, by Rosa Rivas/translated by Charlotte Coombe, is an atmospheric, satirical take on post-collapse Spain and its abandoned urban development.