Biography
I am an Associate Professor in the School of English and a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin.
My research engages with 20th and 21st century Irish literature, and focuses especially on post-independence Irish writing and on short fiction.
I am the author of two monographs, 'Anthologisation and Irish Short Fiction: "Magnitudes of Telling"' (Routledge, in press [2025]), and 'Seán O'Faoláin: Literature, Inheritance and the 1930s' (Irish Academic Press, 2014).
Other books include the edited collections, 'David Marcus: Editing Ireland', with Deirdre Madden (The Stinging Fly Press, 2024), 'The Edinburgh Companion to the Short Story in English', with Adrian Hunter (Edinburgh University Press, 2019), 'William Trevor: Revaluations', with Michael Parker (Manchester University Press, 2013), and 'Reading Colm Tóibín' (Liffey Press, 2008). I also co-edited the short-story anthology 'Dublin Tales' (Oxford University Press, 2023), with Eve Patten.
I have written extensively on Irish literary culture, publishing in peer-reviewed journals, bibliographies, and critical collections. This includes chapters and essays on a variety of topics such as Irish short fiction, post-independence literature, Irish working-class writing, literary biography, and representations of and by the Traveller community. A full list of my publications can be found in 'Publications and Other Research Outputs'.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
''Occasional, even casual': Padraic Colum, legacy curation, and short fiction' in, editor(s)Keith O'Sullivan and Pádraic Whyte , The Writings of Padraic Colum: 'That Queer Thing Genius', Routledge, 2024, pp93 - 106, [Paul Delaney]
Paul Delaney and Deirdre Madden, eds, David Marcus: Editing Ireland, The Stinging Fly Press, 2024, 300pp
Paul Delaney and Eve Patten, eds, Dublin Tales, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2023, 1-325pp
'"Simply because it happened before": Walter Macken's historical fiction' in, editor(s)Sandra Heinen and Katharina Rennhak , Walter Macken: Critical Perspectives, Cork, Cork University Press, 2022, pp87 - 104, [Paul Delaney]
Paul Delaney, ''Frank O'Connor'', Oxford Bibliographies in British and Irish Literature, New York, Oxford University Press, 2021, -
'Literary biography in transition' in, editor(s)Eve Patten , Irish Literature in Transition, 1940-1980, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020, pp309 - 328, [Paul Delaney]
Paul Delaney, '"Rising again": Revision, Trauma, and Frank O'Connor's "Guests of the Nation"', New Hibernia Review/Iris Éireannach Nua, 23, (3), 2019, p35 - 54
Paul Delaney and Adrian Hunter, eds, The Edinburgh Companion to the Short Story in English, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2019, 388pp
Paul Delaney, '"I wanted them not to be lost": Immigration and Irish Short Fiction', Canadian Journal of Irish Studies, 42, 2019, p74 - 99
'"A system that inflicts suffering upon the many": Early twentieth-century working-class fiction' in, editor(s)Michael Pierse , A History of Irish Working-Class Writing, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2017, pp257 - 270, [Paul Delaney]
Paul Delaney, 'Jennifer Johnston: past master', The Irish Times, 29 June, 2017
Paul Delaney, 'Seán O'Faoláin', in Andrew Hadfield (editor). 'Oxford Bibliographies in British and Irish Literature', New York, Oxford University Press, 2016, -
Paul Delaney, Review of The Irish Short Story: Traditions and Trends, by Elke D'hoker and Stephanie Eggermont, eds , Short Fiction in Theory & Practice, 5, (1/2), 2016, p125-127
Paul Delaney, 'Irish talent, elegantly showcased', Review of 'All Over Ireland: New Irish Short Stories', by Deidre Madden, ed. , The Irish Times, Weekend Review, Saturday, 18 July, 2015, p10
Paul Delaney, Seán O'Faoláin: Literature, Inheritance and the 1930s, Irish Academic Press, 2014, 280pp
Paul Delaney, 'Opening Windows', Irish Literary Supplement, 33, (2), 2014
'An Almost Untilled Field': Pádraig Mac Gréine, Annie Power and Béaloideas in, editor(s)Anne Markey and Anne O'Connor , Folklore and Modern Irish Writing, Irish Academic Press, 2014, pp48 - 63, [Paul Delaney]
'"The art of the glimpse": Cheating at Canasta' in, editor(s)Paul Delaney and Michael Parker , William Trevor: Revaluations, Manchester and New York, Manchester University Press, 2013, pp180 - 197, [Paul Delaney]
'Introduction' in, editor(s)Paul Delaney and Michael Parker , William Trevor: Revaluations, Manchester and New York, Manchester University Press, 2013, pp1 - 12, [Paul Delaney and Michael Parker]
Paul Delaney and Michael Parker, eds, William Trevor: Revaluations, Manchester and New York, Manchester University Press, 2013, 226pp
'Changing Times: Frank O'Connor and Seán O'Faoláin' in, editor(s)Julia M. Wright , A Companion to Irish Literature (2 vols), Vol. 2, Oxford, Blackwell, 2010, pp144 - 158, [Paul Delaney]
Paul Delaney, 'Tinkers', Irish University Review, 40, (1), 2010, p169 - 172
'The Desire for Clarity: Seán O'Faoláin's "Lovers of the Lake"' in, editor(s)Cheryl Alexander Malcolm and David Malcolm , A Companion to the British and Irish Short Story, Oxford, Blackwell, 2009, pp448 - 455, [Paul Delaney]
Paul Delaney, ed., Reading Colm Tóibín, Dublin, Liffey Press, 2008, 228pp
'A discourse on nomadism: Travellers and Irish writing' in, editor(s)Borbála Faragó and Moynagh Sullivan , Facing the Other: Interdisciplinary Studies on Race, Gender and Social Justice in Ireland, Newcastle, Cambridge Scholars Press, 2008, pp232 - 243, [Paul Delaney]
'Colm Tóibín', Ian Campbell Ross (editor), The Literary Encyclopedia, 2008, [Paul Delaney]
'"Fierce passions for middle-aged men": Frank O'Connor and Daniel Corkery' in, editor(s)Hilary Lennon , Frank O'Connor: Critical Essays, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2007, pp53 - 66, [Paul Delaney]
'Representative strategies in Liam O'Flaherty's "The Tent" and "The Stolen Ass"' in, editor(s)Micheál Ó hAodha , The Nomadic Subject: Postcolonial Identities on the Margins, Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007, pp25 - 35, [Paul Delaney]
'Privileged Perspectives and Subverted Types: James Stephens's "The Demi-Gods"' in, editor(s)Ciara Breathnach and Aoife Bhreathnach , Portraying Irish Travellers: Histories and Representations, Cambridge Scholars' Press, 2007, pp46 - 64, [Paul Delaney]
Paul Delaney, '"Nobody Now Knows Which": Transition and Piety in Daniel Corkery's Short Fiction', New Hibernia Review, 10, (1), 2006, p100 - 110
Paul Delaney, 'Acts of Remembrance: History, Anxiety and Elizabeth Bowen', Études Irlandaises, 31, (1), 2006, p87 - 103
Paul Delaney, '"A lack of invention": Corkery, criticism and minor fatigue', The Irish Review, 33, 2005, p96 - 109
Paul Delaney, 'Stories from below: Sean Maher and Nan Joyce', Studies, 93, (372), 2004, p461 - 472
Paul Delaney, ' - but is Ireland ever new? - ', REA: Religion, Education and the Arts, 3, 2003, p22 - 24
Paul Delaney, 'A sense of place: Travellers, representation and Irish culture', The Republic, 3, 2003, p79 - 89
Paul Delaney, ed. and introduction to, Daniel Corkery, The Stones and other stories, Cork, Mercier Press, 2003, 207pp
Paul Delaney, '"A marginal footnote": O'Faoláin, the subaltern and the Travellers', Irish Studies Review, 11, (2), 2003, p155 - 164
Paul Delaney, 'D.P. Moran and The Leader: Writing an Irish Ireland through Partition', Éire-Ireland, 38, (3-4), 2003, p189 - 211
Paul Delaney, 'Representations of the Travellers in the 1880s and 1900s', Irish Studies Review, 9, (1), 2001, p53 - 68
'Becoming National: Daniel Corkery and the reterritorialized subject' in, editor(s)Aaron Kelly and Alan A. Gillis , Critical Ireland: New Essays in Literature and Culture, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2001, pp41 - 48, [Paul Delaney]
'Migrancy and Cultural Disappearance' in, editor(s)P.J. Mathews , New Voices in Irish Criticism, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2000, pp170 - 179, [Paul Delaney]
Research Expertise
Description
20th-century and contemporary Irish literature, especially post-independence Irish culture and short fiction.Recognition
Awards and Honours
Election to Fellowship, Trinity College Dublin
Provost Award for Teaching Excellence, Trinity College Dublin
British Council Chevening Scholar
Memberships
Joint Editor (with Sinéad Sturgeon), 'Irish Literature and Culture', The Literary Encyclopedia, www.litencyc.com
Books Editor, Irish University Review
Management Board, Irish University Review
Editorial Board, Irish University Review
Member, ENSFR (European Network for Short Fiction Research)
Member, IASIL (International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures)