Irish Short Story Week Year Two-One Month Review and Four Great New Resources

Thirty Day Review 

Irish Short Story Week

Four Great New Gothic Resources

Irish Short Story Week

March 11 to July 1

Posts by Participants

Resources and Ideas for Irish Short Story Week

My Prior Posts for ISSW Year Two

Irish Short Story week is thirty days old now.  I planned it as a ten day event, just like last year but I kept finding more stories I wanted to include, lots and lots of great people were participating and my  blog traffic is reaching new records so I decided to extend it to a much longer period.  As the event went on I have added in a number of mini-events and days.  I have now opened up the event to Australian Irish Women, as well as Kiwi Irish and to Latin American authors of Irish ancestry.   I tend to do more "how is my event going posts" than most people would (I almost said "most normal people would").  This is my way of keeping myself focused and keeping the event from just being a bunch of random posts. 

For new readers or passing visitors I will explain again why I doing this

Why am I doing this Event?

The cultural and literary influence of Irish Short Story writers is simply immense.  The literary techniques created by James Joyce have been behind almost every literary innovation of the 20th century and there is no sign of anyone coming along to take his place.  Just to give one example, the methods of magic realism that dominates the literature of Latin America (and literary fiction here in the Philippines) comes right from parts of Ulysses.    Oscar Wilde helped created a new sensibility.   Bram Stoker and Joseph Sheridan le Fanu  started the vampire craze that still has the world in its grip.  Samuel Becket wrote the most important plays since Shakespeare.  Elizabeth Bowen's World War Two Stories are world class cultural treasures.   There are easily fifty Irish short story writers of world class quality.   The whole of human experience is in the Irish Short Story.   Ireland has had four winners of the Nobel Prize for literature.  Not bad for a country one percent the size of Australia with a population less than twenty five percent of that of Manila.  The stories are  also a lot of fun to read and are works of great beauty.   There are other reasons I am doing this and I will say more later.

Posts by Participants so Far.

So far there have been posts on 35 short stories by Participants.  There has been three guests posts and more are in the works.  My greatest thanks to those who have joined us so far. The event is open to every one.  Guests posts are very welcome.  


There is no danger of running out of stories!-  One could start now and post for twenty years and just be getting started.

Four Gothic Resources

I recently discovered very good resources on four of the most important Irish Gothic writers, Bram Stoker, Joseph Sheridan le Fanu, Lord Dunsanny, and Charlottle Riddlell.  These resources are all from  The Literary Gothic Web Page.   All of these writers wrote a lot of great stories, most of which you can read online. ( Irish Gothic overlaps with Irish Folk tales but it is a separate area.) 

Great Resource Page on Charlotte Riddell-premier Irish Gothic Writer

Bram Stoker-this resource page has all you need-great page

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu-best ghost story writer of all times-wonderful resource page

Lord Dunsanny-all you could ask for in a resource page and more

These are all great super entertaining writers.

Meet the Hosts for ISSW2

Rory-born in the greatest leprechaun
story of all time, "The Luck of the Irish" by the
very American Stephen Vincent Benet

Eachna, a Princess from the days of'New Grange,
3500 BC

Carmilla-the first literary  lesbian vampire-let
lose on the world by Joseph Sheridan le Fanu

Ruprecht-a changeling but most of the times he is in'his '
preferred form-he wandered into the Reading Life a year  ago
and took up residence.

 It has been suggested to me by a well meaning family member that my hosts are somehow tacky and just to silly for this event.  Should they stay, do they seem out of place?  Of course I like them but I wanted to see if I am just to whimsical.  Feel free to sound of on them and you can also add your own characters!


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