Sifting

The fifteen short stories in this collection immerse readers in rural Ireland. They are full of singing and laughing, pranks and family disputes, desperation and comfort. Mike Mac Domhnaill's distinctive voice and prose-poetry-like writing style bring to life characters both familiar and vivid. He makes the visceral pain of grieving real, and forcefully reminds readers of the disconnect between memory and reality, and how that disparity has its own healing power. The stories in Sifting are marked by an authenticity of character and dialogue, and peppered with references to Irish history and culture. 'These people, places and situations are wonderfully observed; full of the wry humour and the lilt and roll of west Limerick. There is a richness and a verisimilitude to the dialogue and a natural rhythm to the language that draws in and holds the reader, who becomes an eavesdropper, present but unseen.' —Donal Ryan, author of The Spinning Heart Mike Mac Domhnaill won RTÉ's Francis MacManus Short Story Award in 2013. He has had numerous poems and short stories published, in Nua-Aois, An Cloigeann is a Luach, The Stony Thursday Book, Microphone On, Dal gCais, LÁ, Weekly Observer, Limerick Leader and Feasta. He has two books of poetry: Mac Baintrí/Widow's Son (2009) and Macalla Maidu (2013). He lives in Newcastle West, County Limerick.