Órla Mallon

Northern Ireland’s arts and culture scene is currently thriving in Belfast, especially in student dominated spaces. From music and art, drama to literature, there is no shortage of creativity in this province. Despite our troubled and difficult past, the art sector has become a highlight of the Northern Ireland of today, with the voices of young people and students leading the charge. I chatted to Caitlin Young, editor of the new anthology Awkward Middle Children: Emerging Writers from Northern Ireland, which features the work of six talented short story writers and poets from Northern Ireland; Daniel Bresland, Anesu Mtowa, Grace Magee, Keilan Colville, Caitlin herself, and Zara Meadows.

Caitlin explains, “The anthology was the culmination of the literature section of the project 21 Artists for the 21st Century, which is funded by the Northern Ireland Office”. The project is designed to commemorate the centenary of Northern Ireland. Caitlin explains how the contributors were chosen. “The poets were selected by a panel, and then Daniel and I were selected, and I got given free rein to select one short story writer.”

“We got taken on a writing residency to Armagh, which is when I did the bulk of figuring out what the anthology would be. I realised this was very much going to be about place. I looked at people’s pitches, and Grace’s stood out to me because it was about watching violence from so far above and yet being so enmeshed in it.”. Grace Magee’s short story “Scrubbing Day” is set in a block of Belfast flats during the Troubles, following a young woman as she looks down on the violence below her from her own flat.

Caitlin tells me more about the works featured in the anthology, “The short stories go chronologically, the first one starts in roughly 1950s/60s in an undisclosed Northern Irish Town, to the Divis Flats in the midst of the troubles, and finally to modern day Belfast. In terms of prose that suggests how awkward that period is to encapsulate, with the amount of rapid change that happens.”

“The poetry is all about place. When I was editing the manuscript, I felt it was such an encapsulation of what this place is.” Caitlin, originally from Dublin herself, explains, “Not all of us would classify ourselves as Northern Irish. When I first moved here, I was a very naïve eighteen-year-old. Everyone who has lived here leans into it as writers, and this is one of the few places where we’re given license to do that.”

Caitlin explains that there is a wide range of experiences portrayed within the anthology, “Keilan is a border poet from Fermanagh. I remember Keilan telling me that people have told him they thought Fermanagh was in the Republic [of Ireland]. I think it shows how disconnected we are from each other. Keilan’s story is full of bright colours, whereas Grace’s story is the grey of the Divis flats, and it’s just two totally different experiences of the one place”. Awkward Middle Children, true to name, attempts to mediate the various experiences of young people within Northern Ireland, acknowledging that none are the same, and yet, there is a universality to this place. “It’s the same feeling I get from reading a lot of Anesu’s work, especially her final poem ‘Late July 2014, Laurelbank’,” a nostalgic recapturing of teenage summer in Belfast, “Even though it’s not my experience, I specifically remember that feeling.”.

The name Awkward Middle Children itself, suggests something about the young generation here – Caitlin explains why this was used as the title; “Zara Meadows is the last poet in the anthology, they wrote a sonnet cycle called “Awful like yer man Shakespeare”, [it is] deeply hilarious. Zara sort of sets the parameters for the anthology, even though they’re the last featured. It is very much about that core experience of, I don’t think of just being a young person in Northern Ireland but being a young person in this place and time.”

The importance of place and space in Northern Ireland is a key aspect of the anthology, connecting the works together. It can be difficult to navigate writing literature about Northern Ireland however, without acknowledging the difficult past we share.

“Grace [Magee] and I were talking about it, ‘why do people keep writing about The Troubles?’, and Grace turned to me and looked me in the eyes and said, ‘What else are we going to write about!?’”.

Awkward Middle Children is available to pick up in local bookstores.

Órla Mallon is a Culture Reporter and undergraduate Liberal Arts student at Queen's University Belfast.

"Awkward Middle Children" - an anthology centred on place from Northern Ireland's emerging writers