Stepsisters

Overview

This collection of new voices from contemporary Ireland introduces sixteenstories written in the original Irish language by eight different women authors, translated by Irish literature scholar and author, Katherine Duffy. In spare and realistic prose, STEPSISTERS reveals the lives and hardships, mix-ups and misgivings, minor family skirmishes and devastating tragedies that befall ordinary people--a teacher from the northern "provinces" must confront her unruly charges at a high school in Northern Ireland and dire death threats ensue; a woman realizes the object of her beloved's affection is only skin deep when he lusts after her tattoo; a guardian of her mentally unstable brother must confront the decision to have him sent away to a home now that her husband has passed away; an old woman and her dog share the ultimate human/animal bonding in a winter storm. All stories provide a unique and fierce perspective on the day to day struggles and triumphs of the characters, their families, friends, lovers, husbands, children and siblings, with humor, grit, and steadfast eloquence.

Author Biography

Tara MacLeod, Associate Teaching Professor of Irish Language and Literature, is a native Irish-speaker from Ceantar na nOileán in the Connemara Gaeltacht. She earned a Bachelor of Social Science in Social Administration and Library and Information Studies from University College Dublin (1991) and subsequently a Masters in Social Work from University College Cork (1997). She also holds a Dioplóma sa Ghaeilge from the National University of Ireland, Galway (2001) and a Masters of Science in Education, Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Indiana University, South Bend (2023). Brian Ó Conchubhair is a Professor of Irish Language and Literature at the University of Notre Dame and a fellow of the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, and the Institute for Social Concerns. He has been the recipient of a Joyce Teaching Award (2011) and the Kellogg Undergraduate Mentor of the year award (2024).