Northern Ireland has been something of a hotspot for TV drama and comedy over the last few years. Crime shows such as The Fall and The Secret have drawn huge audiences, Derry Girls has been a worldwide hit, and even Game of Thrones made use of the landscape. Cinema has also given us compelling stories about this tiny country, with Good Vibrations and ’71 shedding new light on the Troubles. With the arrival of Belfast, Kenneth Branagh’s Oscar-winning ode to his childhood home, is Northern Ireland finally finding its storytelling voice?
Well, no. Northern Ireland has always had a voice, and we’ve never been short of storytellers. The challenge has been finding someone to listen. What follows should not be taken as a best-of list, but as a chronological overview of our contribution to the literary world. The Troubles loom large over many of these stories, of course, but recent years have seen a divergence of our literature and the conflict that has defined us for so long. Each book here says something about where we’ve been and where we’re going, and each one deserves your attention.
