Stepsisters

Overview

A fierce new chorus of voices emerges from contemporary Ireland. Eight writers. Sixteen unforgettable stories. Translated from Irish for the first time. Stories from Belfast to Kerry, from the immigrant experience to the weight of tradition, these voices refuse easy comfort. They explore the raw territories of motherhood and loss, desire and betrayal and the clash between old certainties and new realities. A tattooist claims his lover's skin. A widow faces an impossible choice about her disabled son. Birds of prey stalk through dreams of environmental catastrophe. Here is family in all its beautiful, terrible complexity -- the bonds that sustain us, the ones that suffocate, the love that heals and the secrets that destroy. Bold, unflinching, and impossible to ignore Stepsisters showcases the depth and power of contemporary Irish women's writing. Featuring stories from Éithne Ní Ghallchobhair, Deirdre Brennan, Róise Ní Bhaoill, Biddy Jenkinson,Katherine Duffyand Réaltán Ní Leannáin.

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).