The Singer's House (Further Reading)

Further Reading

• Ardagh, John, Ireland and the Irish: Portrait of a Changing Society, Hamish Hamilton, 1994.

  In this accessible book, Ardagh examines how the Irish Republic has undergone a tremendous transformation in the last half of the twentieth century, from a mainly rural society to one that embraces the modern world. Although the writer addresses the conflict in Northern Ireland, he is not limited by it, discussing a wide variety of topics — from life in the slums of Dublin to the massive success of the Irish rock band U2.

• Burris, Sydney, The Poetry of Resistance: Seamus Heaney and the Pastoral Tradition, Ohio University Press, 1990.

  This critical overview of Heaney's poetry examines the same issue that Heaney explores in much of his poetry — the artist's responsibility of addressing the current problems of society in his or her work.

• Conroy, John, Belfast Diary: War as a Way of Life, Beacon Press, 1987.

  Conroy, a Chicago journalist, won an award from the Alicia Patterson Foundation in 1979 to live in Belfast, documenting the effect that the violence in Northern Ireland had on residents. The resulting book offers an emotional look at what life was like for residents of Northern Ireland in the 1980s. The 1995 edition has a new afterword by the author.

• Holland, Jack, Hope against History: The Course of Conflict in Northern Ireland, Henry Holt and Company, 1999.

  Holland gives a clear, concise historical overview of the complex conflict in Northern Ireland, which is often misunderstood. The writer is a native of Belfast who has mixed Catholic and Protestant heritage, giving him a rare perspective from which to view the conflict.

• O'Donoghue, Bernard, Seamus Heaney and the Language of Poetry, Prentice Hall, 1995.

  O'Donoghue — a poet and critic — offers one of the first book-length, chronological studies of Heaney's exploration of language.

• Parker, Michael, Seamus Heaney: The Making of the Poet, University of Iowa Press, 1993.

  Parker's detailed biography of Heaney describes the poet's Catholic upbringing in Protestant Northern Ireland and the effects that this life had on Heaney's development as a poet.

• Richtarik, Marilynn J., Acting between the Lines: The Field Day Theatre Company and Irish Cultural Politics, 1980 – 1984, Catholic University of America Press, 1994.

  Heaney and singer David Hammond were two of several artists who joined the Field Day Theatre, as a means of transcending the violence in Northern Ireland through their productions. This book offers a thorough study of these individuals, as well as the circumstances that led to the founding of Field Day.