‘It is hard to think, that’s Kelman’s point, but you have to. Your freedom depends on it. The problem is that when you start to think, which is usually when the bad stuff starts to happen, when you fuck up or you get fucked, and who can say which comes first, you realise that the words you use to think are not your own, they have been shoved down your throat. You have to learn to think for yourself. In your own terms.’
Sean O'Reilly Criticism 23rd February 2023
In this fine set of essays, Colm Tóibín's ebullience and intelligence is consistently apparent.
Adam Coleman Criticism 8th February 2023
‘One requires only a few moments in the Cohenverse to grasp that here is perhaps the only person in the world with the discipline, intelligence, and voracity to render even the most exacting of inner critics speechless.’
Sydney Weinberg Criticism 25th January 2023
Contributors: Dizz Tate, Olivia Fitzsimons, Danielle McLaughlin, Jill Crawford, Neil Hegarty, Angelique Tran Van Sang, Anna Walsh, Mia Gallagher, Thomas Morris, Kevin Power, Niamh Campbell, Ian Maleney, John Patrick McHugh, Mary Morrissy, Tadhg Hoey, Susannah Dickey, Sean O'Reilly
The Stinging Fly Criticism Essay 6th January 2023
‘Negative Space is a memoir of sorts, a record of a time of life and its catastrophes, but its main concern is contemporary art. Or, rather, the embodying of those spirits and effluents given off by art.’
Niamh Campbell Criticism 8th December 2022
‘His pain is made approachable, relatable, interesting—whatever else he may be, Carrère is always good company.’
Ian Maleney Criticism 23rd November 2022
‘What to write about a new work that does not entirely excite or thrill, from one of the most exciting and thrilling writers of the last ten, twenty years?’
John Patrick McHugh Criticism 8th June 2022
Louise Kennedy's mordant debut novel is visceral, powerful, and full of compassion.
Mary Morrissy Criticism 20th April 2022
In an oeuvre of funny and, at times, caustically angry books, 'The Trees' might be Percival Everett’s funniest and angriest yet.
Tadhg Hoey Criticism 30th March 2022
Saba Sams's vibrant collection explores the narratives we construct for ourselves—and the narratives others construct for us.
Susannah Dickey Criticism 16th March 2022
Sean O'Reilly on the reissue of Thomas Kinsella's ‘Butcher's Dozen’ to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday: “a timely reminder that the past has to be fought for and poetry is not beyond lending a hand.”
Sean O'Reilly Criticism Essay 25th January 2022
Fran Lock's latest collection is a multivocal hybrid affected by grief, longing, rage, abjection.
Emer Lyons Criticism 1st December 2021
In Keith Ridgway's luminous new novel, the economic circumstances of his characters infect their confidence, their relationships, their self worth. They own nothing—not even their own stories.
Nicole Flattery Criticism 15th November 2021
"We love Ross O'Carroll-Kelly! Should we?" — Kevin Power considers the evolving fates and functions of the Ross O'Caroll Kelly novels, which to date have sold over a million copies.
Kevin Power Criticism 30th October 2021
Bebe Ashley's debut poetry collection "is an ambitious meditation on music, fandom, projection, and yes, Harry Styles".
Kimberly Reyes Criticism 30th September 2021
Lisa McInerney finds many wonders in Tice Cin's transgressive debut novel which "dodges the usual rules of storytelling".
Lisa McInerney Criticism 16th September 2021
As an "informal experiment", Kevin Power examines Megan Nolan's debut novel – and its reviews – and reflects on the purpose and meaning of literary criticism.
Kevin Power Criticism 23rd June 2021
In Neil Jordan's new novel, the author invents the psyche of an enslaved Black person, "a task as ambitious as it is awkward for a white man to do".
Kimberly Reyes Criticism 12th May 2021
To sit through Adam Curtis's latest offering is to experience a work of art that is alternately lush, oneiric, austere, startling, thrilling, amusing, persuasive, shocking, glib, beautiful.
Kevin Power Criticism 15th April 2021
Conor O'Callaghan's "propulsive" novel is about the process of coming to see—coming to understand—the recent past.
Tara McEvoy Criticism 31st March 2021
If a Kevin Barry character declares themselves a romantic, they’re generally headed for trouble.
Naoise Dolan Criticism 10th March 2021
Steve McQueen’s films are steeped in the political, and in the complicated humanity and inhumanity of ordinary people pushed to the extraordinary.
Kimberly Reyes Criticism 24th February 2021
To watch Hilary Mantel go to work on the world is one of contemporary literature’s unalloyed pleasures.
Kevin Power Criticism 10th February 2021
Derek Mahon's collection is the culmination of a life dedicated to language, the final word from an extraordinary talent.
Tara McEvoy Criticism 21st January 2021
Doireann Ní Ghríofa's 'exhilarating' prose debut investigates the inherited script of motherhood and the occluded history of Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonnaill.
Emma Flynn Criticism 25th November 2020
In her latest exploration of racial imaginaries in the US, Claudia Rankine stresses the importance of difficult conversations in the face of racist state violence.
Mary Jean Chan Criticism 10th November 2020
Caitlín Doherty follows some mystical threads through recent occult-inspired poetry and publishing.
Caitlín Doherty Criticism 30th October 2020
Emma Cline's exquisitely detailed work of social observation falls back on familiar tropes, allowing some characters more complexity than others.
Zakia Uddin Criticism 23rd October 2020
Robert Kiely's debut collection is a brilliant and urgently contemporary appeal to the reader.
Lily Ní Dhomhnaill Criticism 9th September 2020
Mieko Kawakami's latest is a novel of uncertainty, absence, and bodily obsession.
Clara Kumagai Criticism 27th August 2020
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