Ireland through the lens of crime fiction

Tuesday evening I hosted a session at the NUI Maynooth on crime fiction and contemporary Ireland with Declan Burke, Gene Kerrigan and Niamh O'Connor. I thoroughly enjoyed the panel discussion and the conversation in the pub afterwards. Each author opened by saying a little about their writing and what they are trying to achieve through their story-telling. They then read a short passage from one of their novels that they felt opened a window into Irish society. This was followed by questions and answers with members of the audience. The discussion was quite wide-ranging, including how crime fiction enabled a writer to explore the human condition and drama arising from crime, as well as the social and political context within which crimes take place; how crime fiction creates a sense of place and identity; if there was anything particularly unique about Irish crime fiction and how it fitted into the wider international crime fiction landscape; and the points of connection and difference between Irish crime fiction and Irish literary fiction. The event was videod, so depending on the quality of footage I'll look at putting the session up on line rather than try and paraphrase the discussion as I wasn't taking notes.