CHANGING THE TIMES: IRISH WOMEN JOURNALISTS, 19691981; ED. BY ELGY GILLESPIE

Collection of articles by various authors that originally appeared in the Irish times. This "new journalism" by young female writers of the Irish Times originally appeared on the Women First pages during the 1970s. These fifty-nine pieces reflect the enormous social and political upheaval of the years when, as the first woman's page editor Mary Maher put it, "Irish women were invented." The voices of this exciting anthology, diverse, sparkling, irreverent, record with wit and intelligence an Ireland on the brink of transformation. This work showcases the best writing in the Irish Times, pioneered by Maeve Binchy, Mary Leland, Gabrielle Williams, Geraldine Kennedy, Christina Murphy, Maev Kennedy, Caroline Walsh, Theodora FitzGibbon, Renagh Holohan, Mary Cummins, Nell McCafferty, Elgy Gillespie and others. Issues of the day are articulated and explored: pregnancy, fashion, first loves, sexuality, a burgeoning feminism, an imploding Catholic Church, an exploding North. Nell McCafferty profiles a young Ian Paisley, visits New York, and talks to the mother of a girl tarred and feathered in Derry; Maeve Binchy interviews Samuel Beckett and Iris Murdoch; Renagh Holohan describes being caught in an explosion in Belfast; Caroline Walsh meets Seamus Heaney and Edna O'Brien; Elgy Gillespie encounters Muhammad Ali, Tyrone Guthrie and Robert Lowell. As the mirror of a confident young nation, and a window onto one of the most eventful decades in recent Irish history, Changing the Times grants these writings the afterlife they deserve, and offers the reader an enriching view of the past. -- Publisher description