An Alternative Irish Christmas

An Anthology

By Belinda McKeon, Briana Fitzsimons, Jessica Traynor, and more

2025

First Published

3.41

Average Rating

220

Number of Pages

6H43M

Audio Length

When shadows grow longer, when expectation weighs heavy, how do people in Ireland mark Christmas? A woman shops for a very particular Christmas dinner; a man tries to buy a puppy for his daughter; a girl watches as her mother roasts a fowl over an open fire. From old traditions to the creation of new ones, from moments of quiet reflection to chaos, comedy and even horror, this alternative seasonal collection reflects the stunning breadth of experiences an Irish Christmas offers. Belinda McKeon, Sophie White, Tim MacGabhann, Roisin Kiberd, Maggie Armstrong, Sue Rainsford, Jessica Traynor, Niall Bourke, Briana Fitzsimons, Soula Emmanuel, Arja Kajermo, Mike McCormack, Anne Enright.

Avg Rating

3.41

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

11%

4 STARS

33%

3 STARS

41%

2 STARS

15%

1 STARS

goodreads

Authors

Roisín Kiberd's essays have appeared in the Dublin Review, The Stinging Fly and the anthology "Seizing the Memes of Production." Her writing on technology and culture has appeared in the Guardian, the Outline, Vice UK and Motherboard, where she wrote a column about internet subcultures. Her first book, the essay collection "The Disconnect, was published in 2021.

Anne Enright was born in Dublin, where she now lives and works. She has published three volumes of stories, one book of nonfiction, and five novels. In 2015, she was named the inaugural Laureate for Irish Fiction. Her novel The Gathering won the Man Booker Prize, and The Forgotten Waltz won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.

Soula Emmanuel

Author · 3 books

Soula Emmanuel is a trans writer who was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and a Greek father. She attended university in Ireland and Sweden, graduating with a master’s in demography which she likes to think inspired her interest in society’s outliers. She has written for IMAGE magazine, Rogue Collective and the Project Arts Centre, and has had fiction published by The Liminal Review. She was longlisted for Penguin’s WriteNow programme in 2020, took part in the Stinging Fly fiction summer school in 2021 and was a participant in the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency’s mentorship programme for 2021-22. She currently lives on Ireland’s east coast.

Sue Rainsford is a fiction and arts writer based in Dublin. A graduate of Trinity College, she completed her MFA in writing and literature at Bennington College, Vermont. She is a recipient of the VAI/DCC Critical Writing Award, the Arts Council Literature Bursary Award, and a MacDowell Colony Fellowship. When it was first published, Follow Me to Ground won the Kate O’Brien Award and was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Award and the Republic of Consciousness Award. source: Amazon