Title: Smokes and Birds
Author: James Simpson
Published: 2021
Publisher: Rushmore Press
Project Editor: Siobhán Prendergast, Dingle Publishing Services
James Simpson
Praise for Smokes and Birds
‘Unexpected runaway brilliance’
Professor Ian Sansom
‘…an atmospheric, beautifully crafted collection that showcases James Simpson’s acute powers of observation, keen ear for dialogue, lyrical mastery of language, dry wit and breadth of imagination. This is a collection to savour, time and again; it will linger long in the mind. A compelling new voice in Irish short story writing’
Felicity McCall
‘These are stories in which entire lives, complete worlds, are held in a reader’s mind as they read.’
Martina Devlin
‘Was ever there written a more damning inditement of the social aspirations of an Ulsterman than that he “had abandoned the glottal stop, was buying his shirts in Arthur Street”? In these atmospheric stories Jim Simpson parades before us a colourful and lively cast of characters who populate pre- and post-partition Ulster, from the glamorous drawing rooms and expansive gardens of the merchant classes, to the cramped terraces and filthy yards of working class Belfast.
These are stories that deal with important conversations, around identity and allegiance, around solidarity and probity, taking place as they do at critical historical junctures in Irish history: on the eve of world war, on the night before the signing of the Ulster Covenant.
There is a savouring of language here in this senses-filled writing, a precision and attention to detail, and a resonance in the imagery that capture the atmosphere and the concerns of the women and men of this northerly province in the first half of the twentieth century.’
Bernie McGill
Dingle Publishing Services, Árd na Caithne, Ballyferriter, Tralee, Co Kerry
Email: info@dinglepublishing.com • Tel: +353 89 483 3793