Author Description

1997's Phoenix Irish short stories garnered outstanding reviews in Ireland and the UK, The Tines hailing it as 'Exceptional' and other critics hailing it as evidence of the good health of the Irish writing scene. This 3rd collection should establish the Phoenix collection as the classic Irish collection, as well as providing a fertile breeding ground for new talent. Previous collections have provided the list with Katy Hayes and Molly McCloskey, and have highlighted the work of Colum McCann and Michael Collins. For his third annual anthology, David Marcus has brought together a collection of 16 outstanding Irish Stories, none before published in book form. The collection includes some better known names such as Eilis Ni Dhuibhne, but excels in the number of younger writers making their first apperance in a mainstream publication. Particularly outstanding in this collection is the work of Blainaid Mckinney, with her long and remarkably accomplished story set in America, intertwining the history of the Irish famineand the fate of the North American Indians.