Kaleidoscope II: Europe in Ireland

My essay 'The Psycho-delic European Trek' commissioned for the project Kaleidoscope II: Europe in Ireland, an initiative of The European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies (EFACIS) based in Leuven, Belgium, was published last week.

This essay represents a temporary gear change for me, and was written very much against type: 'The Psycho-delic European Trek' makes use of aspects of my personal life and experience presented in a formally fragmented structure to comment on the shifts and instabilities in European identity and borders (internal and external) across time, in parallel with considerations of composite personal identity and outlook - all under the light cast by Brexit. As a form-driven interpretation of Europe, with its strengths and challenges residing in how the pieces fit together - not always entirely smoothly or coherently - the essay relies on the interplay between its form and content.

Europe in Ireland is the second in the EFACIS Kaleidoscope series, which "engages with writers and artists from the island of Ireland about topical interests they may like to share with scholars and lovers of Irish literature and culture in the rest of Europe". While EFACIS usually looks at Ireland from a European point of view, Kaleidoscope II inverts the perspective: "we asked Irish authors what Europe means to them." The project is led by Anne Fogarty, Professor of James Joyce Studies at University College Dublin, Joachim Fischer, Jean Monnet Chair in European Culture (2019-2022) and Hedwig Schwall, project director of EFACIS - who also wrote a comprehensive introductory essay to Kaleidoscope II.

The project comprises over 40 contributions from "some of Ireland's most esteemed authors". It was launched on 17 March 2021, with contributions released in groups of five every fortnight, in alphabetical order. My essay was published on 6 May along with those by Danielle McLaughlin, Alan McMonagle, Lia Mills and Sinéad Morrissey. The full lineup of authors is available on the project website.

My thanks to Hedwig Schwall, Joachim Fischer and Anne Hegarty for the approach and the commission and their editorial diligence.