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THIS WAS A sad year for Irish literature, as one of our greatest icons passed away.
Many readers will have been introduced to Irish contemporary women’s fiction through the work of Maeve Binchy. And there seems to be a renaissance amongst Irish authors this year who are following in the footsteps of Binchy – a lady who put Irish culture, life and relationships on our pages.
Maeve Binchy was very much capable of capturing family life and relationships, and that whole idea of ‘home is where the heart is’ is something that women writers are great at writing about. They strike a chord as to what really matters in life: love, friendships and relationships.
Irish women writers do try and uplift people with their stories, but they try and do so by telling a story; a story that resonates with people and their lives. I think we are a nation of nurturers – you only have to look at the Irish mammies as an example of that. We do have this love of the land and the love of home, and I think that is something women are great at expressing.
Female writers write a lot about home, the same way Jane Austen and Emily Bronte did all those years ago. They wrote about what they knew. They knew about social dynamics, the trouble with match-making, relationships and love. And Irish women writers are very good at doing the same. I am not saying that Irish writers are in any way superior to female writers across the way in the UK or the States, or even better than male Irish writers.
But Irish people are great at story-telling, we always were, so Irish women are great at capturing the trials and tribulations that women experience in life today. That appeals to a lot of people, especially those that have had to emigrate abroad. Like many other writers, I have tried to tap into the Irish diaspora. The background to my recent book was brought about because my friend emigrated and I went out to visit her. So this is just another story that shows where we are as a people.
I think that women’s literature will be looked back on for historical reference in the future. Irish women writers deal with a lot of issues that are central to people’s lives at the moment – like marriage break-ups, illness and abuse.
When you look at Jane Austen, how many male authors from her time can you reference? There were many male poets in the nineteenth century, but the truly great authors of that time were Emily Bronte and Austen. They wrote about the life they saw around them, in their social circles – they were social commentators. And that is what Maeve started in Ireland too. She started a legacy that I think is getting stronger. There are a whole host of authors now – like Cathy Kelly and Ciara Geraghty – new voices out there that are very strong, and they all have something new to bring to the table.
I think it’s a good time for women’s voices to be heard. When people look back in two hundred years, as we do with Jane Austen, I think women’s voices will tell a lot about our time and what was important to us.
The people who are critical about women’s literature, people who call it chick lit – I would suggest those people actually take the time to read it. Irish women writers put a lot of thought into their books, and although they are packaged in a way that makes it look like a nice easy read, when you actually delve into them and actually comprehend them, there is a lot more going on. Perhaps it doesn’t have the embellished prose in which Irish male authors are known more for, but that’s why I think the work of Irish female writers will stand the test of time.
Michelle Jackson is an author. Her most recent book is called 5 Peppermint Grove and is published by Poolbeg Publishers.
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I personally distinguish between women’s literature (Austen, Bronte, Pat Barker, Maya Angelou, etc.) and chick lit (not going to get into it, but EL James and Stephanie Meyer are good examples of what I consider to be rubbishy “chick-lit”).
Also, not sure how helpful it is to blindly describe women’s writing as being, overall, “perhaps” less sophisticated or “embellished”. In fact, re-reading it now, it’s actively unhelpful.
Kind of a lot of generalisations in there.
Yeah I also thought “chick-lit” was a genre rather than just “literature written by women”. For example, Frankenstein is not chick-lit just because it was written by Mary Shelley, it is still science-fiction/horror.
I think the Ross O’Carroll-Kelly books are as good a literary graph of the rise and fall of the Celtic Tiger as one could find. Brilliant. Dick lit. :-)
Agree wholeheartedly with the thrust of this article. Peig Sayers was nothing if not uplifting and I think I speak for generations of Irish students when I say that her humorous, languid and almost mystical prose transported us from a freezing classroom to a happy rural idyll as carefree as it was beautifully rendered in our imaginations. Much like a blank canvas…
Chick lit, such a patronising phrase, like “mumpreneur” actually I rephrase that, thank god there is a title to this category of rubbish so it can be avoided, imagine if there was “lad-lit”?. I have read some of these books by the likes of Amanda Brunker, Jordan, Amy Hunerman et al and they are rubbish. There are countless books of fantasy, romance and drama available in the world without having this drivel clogging up our bookshelves.
Ahhh women
So future generations will be studying Marian Keyes instead of Jane Austin for their exams!
So, I wasn’t the only one perturbed by that comparison….
You know the film “clueless” was based Jane austen’s “Emma”. Different setting of course but same characters looking at relationships and class difference. Don’t let the setting cloud your judgement as to whether worthwhile topics are being explored. Not many would class eminem as a poet, but Seamus Heaney does and is an admirer of his work. Minds are parachutes ……open them.
And The Lion King is based on Hamlet. But it’s not going to feature on film courses any time soon (despite being an excellent movie). There’s a difference between a contemporary re-telling of a classic plot and present-day literary prowess. Fact is, not many (or even none?) of the female writers whose works fall squarely into the chick-lot category are breaking new ground — either in what they say or how they say it. That’s what differentiates them from classic writers such as Jane Austen and more contemporary writers like Sylia Plath, Joan Didion, Ann Beattie, even JK Rowling and PD James.
Similarly, there’s a distinct difference between Nick Horby or Ben Elton (lad lit) and Charles Dickens or Jonathan Safran Foer (just lit).
Eminem has 13 Grammy’s. His ability is widely recognized.
I’m open-minded about writing, but I still wouldn’t liken some of the writers mentioned above to some of the greatest novelists ever.
Dorothea Herbert, another fascinating example…from the early 1800′s!
The lady doth protest too much ?
And politicians salaries. They are too high and must be reduced poste-haste.
I dont see how the heading matches the content of this article. Like who are these Irish female writers? What intelligent points do they make? What data does she have to back up er claim that they represent the times?
Everyone has at least one novel in them. Unfortunately most of these are stuck just north of ones anus.
Books are books. To me, it doesn’t matter what kind of book someone is reading as long as they’re reading.
There’s literature and there’s chick lit and they don’t compare! How some of that chick lit even gets published is a mystery to me, even reading the synopsis on the back is painful…but then each to his or her own!
An excellent read.
These are the novels I read.
Thanks for this.
Quite a bit of generalising, sexist, populist, stangnant dribble. In this opinion is every reason there is still gender equality in this country.
I enjoy irish authors such as Melissa Hill, Sinead Moriarty. I agree with someone above, who cares what a genre is called whether it’s called chick lit or women fiction, as long as someone is reading that is the important thing.
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