Programme

Dictionary of Munster Women Writers


Project Partner:
Cork University Press

Contact:
www.corkuniversitypress.com

Date: Available from 1 September 2005

Project Description:
The Dictionary of Munster Women Writers makes an important contribution to the knowledge of writing in Munster in both Irish and English over the past 200 years. The dictionary has entries on 560 writers, including 220 in Irish. Each entry contains a bibliographical note, a list of key references, and a bibliography where applicable.

Dictionary of Munster Women WritersEssays by Patricia Coughlan and Eibhear Walshe (on the English language entries), and by Gearoiíin NicCarthaigh and Sile Ní Chochlain (on those in Irish) introduce the material and explain the editorial principles and choices that shaped the compilation.

The subjects range from well-known figures like Kate O’Brien or Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, to a host of forgotten or neglected writers, singers or storytellers, and some brought to public notice for the first time. The Dictionary interprets “writers” very broadly, and includes unpublished diaries, journals, and letters, together with plays, documentaries, film-scripts and journalism, cookery books and manuals, as well as fiction and poetry. Many of the Irish language entries relate to contributions to the folk and song traditions rather to more conventional forms of writing. The project has been devised, in part, as a feminist recovery of women’s writing, especially over periods when the surrounding society and culture had a distinctly patriarchal character (and women, for example, often wrote under male pen-names or anonymously), but it also offers a rich source work for those interested in local or regional identities, and a wide range of literary issues and figures. In conjunction with (and profoundly influenced by) the Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing: Irish Womens’ Writing and Traditions, this Dictionary will stimulate further research and inquiry and be an indispensable source book for many decades to come.

Tina O’Toole is a Lecturer in Department of Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Limerick