Our late literary correspondent on Darina Allen, Martin Amis, Nigel Kennedy and more

Michael Walker: There were boos in the game of two Irelands, but humour too

Students encouraged to ‘think a bit outside the box’ in unusual but well-received paper

Solas Nua’s Washington production aims to highlight abolitionist leader’s links to Ireland

America Letter: The US slave-turned-campaigner enjoyed a tour of Ireland in the 1840s

From traditional tunes to the magic of Mozart, some Irish writers name their favourite tunes, ahead of a concert featuring their picks at the Royal Irish Academy of Music

The ‘Irish Stand’ movement is gaining momentum ahead of the St Patrick’s Day event in New York

The latest Hennessy hall-of-famer is mesmeric and convincing when writing in English and turns her simpler Irish to great use in her crime writing

Lavender & Green Alliance fought for 25 years for parade to be opened to gay groups

President’s St Patrick’s Day speech his 30th set of remarks geared for an Irish audience

Bill de Blasio ends his two year boycott of the parade following lift of ban on gay groups

Never mind the pram in the hall, what about the day job? How do writers manage to create while working full-time to make ends meet? Sarah Bannan talks to four fellow authors

The ability of Irish Travellers and the Roma to tell their stories is paramount to their dignity and survival

Emigrants and their left-behind families now have the guts and the language to talk about loss and loneliness

Review: Millenial angst and deadpan humour in a diverting debut collection of stories

Review: a beautiful and inspired collection, says Éilís Ní Dhuibhne

A vicious attack outside a Connecticut hotel left the Irish novelist not only needing new teeth but also facing a dilemma about his new book, which features a similar incident

A round-up of upcoming events in the books world

Novel is terrific and tells story of rural community faced with the coming of enclosure

Themes of war and real life dominate Dublin Literary Award shortlist

Seán McCann: May 7th, 1929 - February 24th, 2015

Aosdána told cut in funding an illustration of the arts’ ‘peripheral’ place in Irish society

Hailed by Con Houlihan as ‘a brilliant features editor’

Stars to contribute to project about fathers and sons to raise funds for the Irish Hospice Foundation

The newly appointed Laureate for Irish Fiction considers the reach of Irish books abroad – and what gets lost in translation

‘Irish burial practices are not very different from those in Sierra Leone. In this impoverished country death is part of life’

Books nominated by public libraries for consideration include 142 novels

Thirty-four authors have made the longlist for the inaugural Laureate for Irish Fiction

Writer described attack as “shocking and cowardly” in “broad daylight on a busy street”

Novelist attacked and injured in Connecticut hotel after reportedly coming to woman’s aid

Debut novel took nine years to find publisher

‘A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing’ author has already won Goldsmiths Prize and been shortlisted for Baileys, Folio and Desmond Elliott prizes

‘I write in a very troubling manner that I wouldn’t advise anyone to adopt’

Review: Douglass, an escaped slave forced to flee the US in 1845, was so moved by the poverty he saw in Famine-era Ireland that he felt he must speak out against the causes of human suffering generally

Behan’s celebrity in the US was so great, he got away with some of his worst behaviour there

Darragh McKeon’s individuals are atomic particles adrift in a vast universe

The castle is an apt setting for talks on the truth and lies of historical fiction

At a grand dinner many years ago, Heaney made a nice gesture in honour of my father, who had recently died

Roddy Doyle, Colum McCann and Colm Tóibín among 560 signatories to international appeal