Join us to explore two books illuminating great voices from Irish American history. Gratefully and Affectionately: Mary Lavin and the New Yorker (New Island) by Gráinne Hurley gives fascinating insight into Lavin’s 18-year working relationship with the publication, including her working relationship with its chief editor through the letters they wrote to each other. Gatsby: Death of an Irishman (Wordwell) by Patrick O’Sullivan Greene delivers a new, compelling insight into the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and his complex, evolving and surprising relationship with his Irish heritage. The authors will be in conversation with journalist Ronan McGreevy.

Please note we may be capturing candid imagery at this event for use on our social media and website

Gráinne Hurley holds a PhD in Contemporary Irish Literature from University College Dublin and is a former English Literature lecturer and drama teacher. Her ground-breaking work on Mary Lavin and The New Yorker has been cited in various publications including Seamus Deane’s Small World (2021), The Oxford Book of Irish Fiction (2020) and Elke D’hoker’s Irish Women Writers and the Modern Short Story (2016). In March 2023, Gráinne was appointed writer-in-residence at the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco.

Patrick O’Sullivan Greene’s latest book, Gatsby – Death of an Irishman​, explores F. Scott Fitzgerald’s complex relationship with his Irish identity and the genesis of his most iconic character​. The book was launched at the Royal Irish Academy, and in America in Saint Paul, the birthplace​ of Fitzgerald. ​Of his first book, Crowdfunding the Revolution: The First Dáil Loan and the Battle for Irish Independence, published in 2020, Paschal Donohoe, then Minister for Finance, ​wrote: ‘The quality of writing and the pace of storytelling ensure that this is not a niche or specialist work of history. This is a compelling read. I wish I had written it myself’. President Michael D. Higgins invited Patrick to Áras an Uachtaráin to make a presentation of ​the book. Patrick has spoken at the American Irish Historical Society in New York, the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco, and this year, the centennial of The Great Gatsby, at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society conference in New York. Patrick lives in Killarney.

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