Overview

In a letter to her editor at The New Yorker, the Irish writer Maeve Brennan described the emotional landscape provided by her mother: She gave me an ‘asylum for my affections’ and I learned that my affections so far exceeded her ability to understand me that she came near to drowning. In this new anthology of essays about Maeve Brennan, ten contemporary Irish writers consider the various meanings of the word ‘asylum’: an institution, a site of incarceration, a refuge and a shelter. They explore cityscapes and girlhood, mythology and folklore, loneliness and transience, the emotional impact of history and diaspora, as well as family connections to Brennan. These 'sketches' offer new and broader perspectives on Brennan’s life and the continuing impact of her work in the 21st century. Contributors include: Darran Anderson Niamh Campbell Mary Cregan Roddy Doyle Arnold Thomas Fanning Sinéad Gleeson Belinda McKeon Éilís Ní Dhuibhne Kate Phelan Jessica Traynor

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9781835940129

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Molly Hennigan is an Irish writer and editor. She has been published in The Stinging Fly, Tolka, The Pig’s Back and Banshee. Her first book The Celestial Realm was nominated for the 2023 An Post Irish Book Awards Newcomer of the Year and shortlisted for the 2024 Royal Irish Academy Michel Déon prize for non-fiction. She is the non-fiction editor for Banshee and she is the 2025 Arts Council Writer in Residence at University of Galway.   

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