Madam, Kevin Barry's review in last Saturday's edition of The UCD Aesthetic: Celebrating 150 Years of UCD Writers criticises the omission of several distinguished writers who were associated with UCD, notably the stylish critic, poet and short story writer John Jordan, who lectured in English at the college in the 1950s and 1960s. But your reviewer fails to mention another remarkable omission: that of the novelist and short story writer Benedict Kiely.
The omission of Ben Kiely from The UCD Aesthetic is all the more inexplicable when one considers that the National University of Ireland, of which UCD was then a constituent college, some years ago honoured him with a D.Litt degree in recognition of his very considerable contribution to Irish literature.
Moreover, the distinguished critic and former UCD academic Dr Denis Donoghue is also missing from this book. Both of UCD's two most eminent literary critics from the modern era, John Jordan and Denis Donoghue, are ignored. Does UCD really expect us to take this book seriously? - Yours, etc,
HUGH McFADDEN,
Clareville Road,
Dublin 6W.