Sinéad Gleeson’s exertions in the service of Irish literature are Stakhanovite: editing four Irish short-story collections in a decade is a singular achievement, unlikely to be surpassed. For this, countless Irish writers owe her a profound debt of gratitude. Still, it’s hard to see this massive new anthology as a natural progression from the groundbreaking project pursued in her earlier anthologies, The Long Gaze Back and The Glass Shore. It is Gleeson’s evangelical fervour for the unsung, the neglected and the marginalised that has distinguished her work to date, which makes it feel slightly strange to see so many iconic figures included. James Joyce, Flann O’Brien, Frank O’Connor and Elizabeth Bowen hardly need a leg-up, and leaving them out of this collection would have

Source: The Times January 09, 2021 00:01 UTC