Irish Women Writers Speak Out: Voices from the Field

Bringing together the diverse and marvelously articulate voices of women of Irish and Irish-American descent, editors Caitriona Moloney and Helen Thompson examine the complicated maps of experience that the women's public, private, and literary lives represent--particularly as they engage in both feminism and postcolonialism.

Acknowledging Mary Robinson's revised view of Irish identity--now global rather than local--this work recognizes the importance of identity as a site of mobility. The pieces reveal how complex the terms "feminism" and "postcolonialism" are; they examine how the individual writers see their identities constructed and/or mediated by sexuality. In addition, the book traces common themes of female agency, violence, generational conflicts, migration, emigration, religion, and politics to name a few. As it represents the next wave of Irish women writers, this book offers fresh insight into the work of emerging and established authors and will appeal to a new generation of readers.