By the end of the course, the students will familiarize themselves with a wide range of Irish and Scottish authors and their most prominent works, as well as some key factors that influenced the Irish and Scottish literary world in the 20 th and 21 st centuries. The students will be able to contextualise the given texts through political, historical and cultural processes in Ireland and Scotland, and compare the development of literatures of the two countries. The course is designed to introduce both well-known and less commonly discussed Irish and Scottish prose writers, poets and dramatists. The main focus of the course are the main trends and relationships of literary thought in both countries. Shared concerns and issues faced by the authors of the two regions will also be discussed.

Works by the following authors will be discussed:

Drama: Brian Friel, David Greig

Fiction: Muriel Spark, Sebastian Barry, Eilís Ní Dhuibhne, AL Kennedy, James Robertson, Ali Smith

Poetry: Robert Crawford, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Seamus Heaney, Kathleen Jamie, Sorley MacLean, Paul Muldoon, Edwin Morgan

Verbal input (continuous assessment)—15%

Students are expected to participate in class discussion actively.

Presentation—25%

Students will need to prepare a presentation of around 15 minutes on topics discussed at the beginning of the course.

In-class short essay—20%

Students will have to write a short analysis of a given text in class at mid-term.

Take-home essay—40%

An essay of 3-4 pages should be submitted at the end of the term.