Ten essential titles of Northern Irish literature

Alexander Poots was born in London in 1985. After studying at the University of Manchester and Magdalen College, Oxford, he worked as a bookseller.

The Strangers’ House: Writing Northern Ireland is his first book.

He lives in Belfast.

At Publishers Weekly Poots tagged ten works with the "tact, nuance, and deep historical understanding" essential to capturing the "predicament" (Seamus Heaney's term) that is Northern Ireland. One title on the list:

Sweet Home by Wendy Erskine

One aspect of the Troubles that receives little attention is the manner in which decades of conflict quashed all other stories in Northern Ireland. Even during the worst years, people got married, started bands, moved house, and changed careers. Erskine’s debut collection of short stories, largely set in contemporary Belfast, moves the focus back to the inner lives and struggles of Northern Irish people. While the Troubles cast a shadow—as in “To All Their Dues,” in which a woman who opens a beauty salon must deal with the demands of local paramilitaries—sectarianism is a background hum, not the subject. My favorite story here is “the soul has no skin,” where an act of kindness hollows out a young man’s life.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue