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ESSAY:The long relationship between the ‘New Yorker’ magazine and the Irish short story will be highlighted this year at Cúirt International Literary Festival. Here, Cúirt programme director MAUREEN KENNELLYlooks back at how it sustained and put bread on the table for many Irish writers in the 1950s – and how it endures today

IRISH WRITERS have carved an international reputation as masters of the short story. It’s one of our greatest cultural exports and an American expert in the form of Richard Ford has christened it “ thenational art form of Ireland”. The Irish short story has been in domicile at the New Yorker from the 1940s right up to the present day and the publication has had a remarkable impact on its standing in the world of literature. A glance at the magazine’s archive from the 1940s through to the 1960s reveals an intense concentration of stories by Frank O’Connor, Maeve Brennan, Mary Lavin and other Irish writers. Just what was it about the Irish short story that gained such a foothold with the New Yorkerand how did it impact on the form?