Irish literature is second to none, and for me that's quite a proud thing. The writers I've chosen for Document - Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, Seamus Heaney, William Butler Yeats, Flann O'Brien and Bram Stoker - are titans of literature and they each changed literature in their own way.
The awkward longing, the spots, the insecurity: it's enough to cringe yourself into oblivion. For John Patrick McHugh, however, it is a rich seam to squeeze not only for humour, but for a nuanced examination of burgeoning masculinity.
"Thank God for Sally Rooney," says Sharon Horgan, the BAFTA-winning Irish actress and writer. "My eldest girl wasn't really a big reader, then she started reading Sally Rooney, and now she is." Horgan's admiration for Rooney highlights the author’s influence on fostering a reading culture within her family. It speaks to how one beloved author can ignite a passion for reading in others, bridging generational gaps.