Arrows In Flight - Caroline Walsh

The short-story tradition in Ireland is a long and noble one, and yet the world mirrored in the Irish short story of the past is fast disappearing. In the twenty-first century a new array of concerns presents itself, moving away from the tyranny of church, poverty and authoritarian figureheads and towards a complex, urban world of hollow promises and short-lived gratification. The new wave of Irish short story writers are moving beyond national boundaries, seeking a different moral climate to that which gave the traditional Irish short story its strongest hue. With stories often set outside Ireland, peopled occasionally by characters with no perceptible connection to Ireland, what constitutes the contemporary Irish short story? Many of the new generation of short stories are enigmatic, cryptic and unanchored, but if one thing can be said to unite them it is their search for identity, be it social, political or personal. This challenging, diverse and, above all, important collection helps to mark the change that has taken place in the Irish short story.