Happy Irish-American Heritage Month!

Readers seeking shamrock green reading material this Irish-American Heritage Month will find riches to explore. The Emerald Isle boasts an expansive and varied literary tradition. Writers who hailed from Ireland include the mystical poet W.B Yeats, stream-of consciousness novelist James Joyce, absurdist playwright Samuel Beckett, and satirists Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. The widely popular fantastical classics Dracula and The Chronicles of Narnia series were penned by Irish authors Bram Stoker and C.S. Lewis, respectively. More recent authors include Edna O'Brien, whose novels stirred controversy in their depiction of women's experience; Maeve Binchy, whose novels and short stories often feature a surprise ending; and the poet Seamus Heaney, whose poetry evokes rural Ireland and mythology.

The island seems unusually prolific in producing writers. Though France claims the most Nobel Prize in Literature recipients at 15, France's total population now is roughly 68 million. Whereas Ireland counts 4 winners with a current population of about 5 million. What accounts for the predilection for Irish people to tell an interesting story in an interesting way, to be essentially an island of storytellers? A strong oral tradition existed before widespread literacy in Ireland, which continued after and to the present day. Additionally, some Irish writers' immigration to other countries – far away or just next-door to England – has allowed them to telescope in to the particularities of Irish culture in their writing.

A number of contemporary Irish writers have been garnering attention with American readers. Sally Rooney is known for describing the messiness of first love and relationships in minimalistic prose, as in her novel Normal People. Roddy Doyle's most recent novel, The Women Behind the Door, features a recurring character of his, prototypical survivor Paula Spencer, who readers will be happy to encounter – either again or for the first time. In spare, economical language, Claire Keegan reveals the story of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries in her historical novella Small Things Like These. Finally, Colm Tóibín writes the story of how an Irish-American woman responds when presented with the result of her husband's indiscretion in his novel Long Island.

All of these writers are writing in a realistic style – life as it can be seen and sensed. This is the currently popular literary style. So much so that a prominent writer advised new writers to adopt it to avoid starving. But what if you're seeking a touch of the magical? We typically see images of the magical from Ireland at this time of year, and the Irish landscape is so beautiful that it seems that it must be magical. You might look into some Irish mythology such as in the books Over Nine Waves: a Book of Irish Legends or Meeting the Other Crowd: The Fairy Stories of Hidden Ireland. You might also enjoy the magical realism in novels by Irish-American author Nora Roberts such as her Dragon Heart Legacy trilogy.

Enjoy your reading journeys wherever they take you this month!