The Guide

Sara Keating: The Writer’s Torch shines a contemporary light on Ireland’s literary forerunners

The recent publication from The Stinging Fly Press celebrates a selection of stories from the back catalogue of The Bell, Dublin’s iconic literary magazine

Author Anne Enright’s contribution to The Writer’s Torch is short memoir to accompany Seán Ó Faoláin’s The Man Who Invented Sin. Picture: Feargal Ward

The Stinging Fly. The Dublin Review. The Tangerine. The Honest Ulsterman. Banshee. Tolka. A Holy Show. If the renaissance of literary magazines in Ireland hadn’t already been thriving for the last 20 years, you might say it is having a moment with titles such as The Pig’s Back and The Four Faced Liar credibly joining the crowded shelves of independent bookshops.

Some of Ireland’s biggest authors have cut their teeth writing for native periodicals. Sally ...