literary tradition

In her discussion with Rania M Rafik Kahil, award winning playwright Marina Carr discusses the trait of transgression in her female characters, its imperative within her writing, and its recurrence across various literary styles and contexts. Expanding on this theme, she elaborates on the challenge of adapting characters from literary history to address contemporary themes and subjects while retaining those components essential to their original creation. She also reads from her 2015 version of Hecuba.

In their conversation, Belinda McKeon and Kate Costello-Sullivan situate the rich spareness and reticence in McKeon’s fiction in its socio-cultural Irish context. They talk about navigating the balance between continuing literary traditions and creating innovative narratives; about the influence that settling down in the United States has had on McKeon’s style; about writing male characters and shifting to focus unapologetically on female characters; about motherhood and writing; and about the psyche and the body in her canon. McKeon also reads from her short story "Privacy" from the collection Being Various.