Books published by New Island Books

During his all-too-brief lifetime, Flann O'Brien was read by a small but fanatically faithful coterie of readers, including James Joyce, Dylan Thomas, Graham Greene, and William Saroyan. He is one of the most difficult writers to pin down, partly or primarily as a result of his having carefully carved himself into three people, all of whom he used, when necessary, to hide behind. As Flann O'Brien he wrote several novels that for their technical precocity, exuberant prose, and sparking invention, have been proclaimed among the finest of the modern period; as Myles na Gopaleen ("Miles of the Little Ponies") he wrote for twenty-five years a wildly imaginative newspaper column for The Irish Times called Cruiskeen Lawn; as Brian O'Nolan, the name on his birth certificate, he held down a responsible job in the bureaucracy of the Irish Government. No Laughing Matter is the first full-length biography of this remarkable man.

Comprising four long stories - 'The Becker Wives', 'The Joy Ride', 'A Happy Death' and 'Magenta' - this collection is one of Lavin's most celebrated. Together, these stories capture the frustrations and grace of characters struggling to free themselves in places that are often hostile to their desires: a new bride coming home to her husband's prim family, two butlers taking a rare opportunity to go out drinking, a woman pleading with her dying husband to repent, and a young housekeeper whose fortunes seem to have suddenly changed.For the first time in decades, and with a foreword by Christine Dwyer Hickey, the Modern Irish Classics series brings this vital collection to a new generation of readers.

Now available in paperback, this brilliant history of medieval Ireland evokes life as lived by the ordinary people rather than the small elite of nobles and warriors who have dominated discussions to date.

An English-Irish phrasebook compiled by leading Irish-language scholar and lexicographer. Of particular interest to those learning the language and schools market.

One of nine children born into a penniless North Dublin family, Nuala O'Faolain was saved from a harrowing childhood by her love of books and reading. Though she ultimately became one of Ireland's best-known columnists, her professional success did little to ease her longing for a deep connection to the world. Are You Somebody? distills her experiences into a wisdom that can only come from an obstinate refusal to shrink from life.

Throughout these tales, Hoult reveals the contemporary realities of class and disability, office politics and women's lives, with a sharp gaze and a gentle touch. Beautifully observed and remarkably crafted, exact and unflinching, Cocktail Bar is a modern Irish classic.

Dublin's One City, One Book for 2018 - series of events throughout the city to celebrate the book in association with Dublin UNESCO City of Literature and Dublin City Council.

Already a cult hit, Kiss My... will appeal to the Irish-language student and the open-minded traveller alike.