Postcards from the Edge – Frank McNally on Samuel Beckett’s newly published German Diaries
Travelling around Nazi Germany, he wrote presciently about war and found inspiration for Waiting for Godot
Samuel Beckett
Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis: ‘It’s not for everyone. But I feel very alive when I watch it’
Dublin Theatre Festival 2026: Sarah Kane’s final play is a dispatch from the frontline of human experience, according to Tom Creed and Marty Rea
How John McGahern wrote: ‘Everything begins in a copy book. Every draft would be by hand’
The author’s archive, going on show at Galway University, charts his working life and methods, beginning with copy books filled with his tiny writing
Percy Place Edwardian once owned by Beckett in Ballsbridge
Modernised three-bed built by playwright’s father in mint condition beside the canal
How Irish kindness in a war-ravaged French town inspired unknown writer Samuel Beckett
Short poem in The Irish Times was too obscure for some, but Beckett’s time in Saint-Lô warranted a verse with deep meaning
The Last Tape review: Beckett’s language breathes alongside the music in compelling curio
Kilkenny Arts Festival: Hybrid form soon becomes cumbersome, but operatic adaptation of Krapp’s Last Tape still intrigues
The Last Tape: Beckett foray into opera comes to Kilkenny in hybrid form
Mark Padmore sings the role of Krapp and Conor Lovett speaks it in this Gare St Lazare Ireland adaptation, directed by Judy Hegarty Lovett
Proust by Samuel Beckett: A fascinating glimpse of a Nobel laureate ‘in the making’
Beckett’s youthful study illuminates the intellectual development of one of Ireland’s most formidable literary talents
‘What’s the most exciting theatre in the world, and how can Irish audiences experience it?’
Róise Goan, the head of Dublin Theatre Festival, on the themes and values behind the upcoming 2026 edition
TV guide: the best new shows to watch
Highlights include Trinity’s Treasures, The Dark and The Chase Around the World
Author Dave Eggers on AI, staying creative and the daily role of Sinéad O’Connor in his life
The author and non-profit founder on creativity, AI and finding meaning in life
Aaron Monaghan on The Shaughraun: ‘I’d vastly underestimated Boucicault. He’s kind of a genius’
Galway International Arts Festival 2026: Druid Theatre’s revival leans into the Victorian melodrama’s surprising political undercurrent
How much Beckett can one man take? Denis McClean goes to Venice to find out
For a while, I felt locked out from the mystifying text
Signed Samuel Beckett books and Pride and Prejudice among rare treasures for sale
Stirrings Still by Samuel Beckett, with illustrations by Louis le Brocquy, and second edition of Pride and Prejudice among this week’s finds
Not so simple: Alison Healy on errant behaviour by fans at a recent Paul Simon gig
People were standing up to leave. I longed to interrogate them
‘Indecent’ Ulysses: The British ban and how it was lifted
James Joyce reportedly said he wanted his books to keep the critics busy for 300 years. His most famous one kept the British post office and customs busy until 1936
The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon: ‘When my father died there was no great mourning, as I’d been doing it for a decade’
The Divine Comedy songwriter on his journey from pop star to accidental country gent and why he’s ‘less willing to put on a happy face’
Séamas O’Reilly: ‘As I’ve grown older I’ve realised how formative the Troubles were’
Author’s debut novel, Prestige Drama, channels humour, anger and sadness in story about a TV show set during the Troubles
Marita Conlon-McKenna: ‘I write what I see and what I feel. I can sense things. I always have’
Our senses lead a pathway to what’s going on in a story, says the bestselling author
A new Wild Atlantic Way? How nine ‘literary routes’ could form a map of Irish writing
The proposed ‘Literary Ways’ criss-crossing Border counties highlight writers from WB Yeats and Seamus Heaney to Nell McCafferty and Lisa McGee
Éamon de Valera in Ballsbridge, ‘Sam A Barclay Beckett’ in Foxrock: Who was where 100 years ago?
Details on public figures and their whereabouts and families are contained in the 1926 Census
The Irish Proust: A fascinating search for a creature that may not be mythical after all
Clues to its existence abound, from the works of Bowen to Behan
Dearly imparted: Frank McNally on Paddy the philanthropist, the BBC banning of Clannad, and Beckett’s womb with a view
Might Paddy Dear be persuaded to throw a few million our way, for the relief of distress in dear old Ireland?
Jürgen Habermas lived to see a return of the fascist ghosts he once helped exorcise
The German philosopher, who has died aged 96, was young enough to carry no culpability for the Nazi era yet old enough to carry lifelong scars
Next Year Will Be a Good One by Shivaun O’Casey: Life in the benevolent shadow of Seán O’Casey
More important than any encomium from this quarter, Seán O’Casey’s daughter diligently captures his life and legacy
Brought to book: Alison Healy on some unwise rejections of authors’ manuscripts by publishers
An American publisher dismissed them as unfunny, senseless and dull
Staging Beckett in London by Matthew McFrederick: New study traces 70 years of productions
A meticulously researched history argues that Godot’s dominance has overshadowed Beckett’s wider theatrical legacy
Playwright Seán O’Casey’s daughter: ‘He never seemed old to me... he was quite adventurous’
Seán O’Casey’s daughter Shivaun, a living link to one of our most famous playwrights, has written a memoir that includes previously unpublished letters from her father
Bringing the Ukraine war to its endgame is going to mean messy compromises
Hard choices about territory, security, language rights, alliances, sanctions and resources are required
Irish couple to stage six-hour-long Beckett play with no punctuation at Venice Biennale
Husband-and-wife duo, actor Conor Lovett and director Judy Hegarty Lovett, will bring 10 performances at the 18th century Palazzo Diedo
Hugo Hamilton: ‘I love speaking Irish. It places me in a less aggressive country full of musical links to an ancient past’
The author on his new novel, Conversation with the Sea; his German heritage; and how Germany is in denial about Gaza
Rest in Paris: fancy your chances of being buried beside Oscar Wilde or Jim Morrison?
Plus: the thing Catherine Connolly and Keir Starmer have in common; the ‘lion’ on the loose in Co Clare; and a big job opening at the EPA
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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