Mary Morrissy

To celebrate the close of the Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks series we asked you to pick your favourite artwork of last year

Ever since the seismic events of 1916 Irish artists have taken a nuanced view of events

Some admirers celebrate the playwright’s work on the 400th anniversary of his death

Dublin Shakespeare Society; Kevin Curran reading; All-Ireland Poetry Day; Trinity talk on Derry authors; hunger strike talk at UCD

Perhaps the question to ask is, do writing courses produce writers? Belinda McKeon, Colin Barrett, Claire Kilroy, Sara Baume, Andrew Fox ... so that’ll be a yes

Books nominated by public libraries for consideration include 142 novels

Nicola White’s new novel ‘In the Rosary Garden’ was inspired by the Kerry Babies tribunal and the Ann Lovett case. We recommend some other real-life fiction from Ireland and abroad

Forget the inspirational teachers and creative encouragement that many writers experienced at school. Playwright Frank McGuinness recalls a schooling in the 1950s and 60s that sickens his stomach, and ‘beat the lining out of any love for exploring the intricacies of language’