The best female writers from Ireland you've never heard of

Image | Sinéad Gleeson

Caption: Sinéad Gleeson (Credit: Annie Atkins)

Image | Sinéad Gleeson with award

Caption: In November, Sinéad Gleeson's treasure-trove of women's fiction won an Irish book award.

The world is well-acquainted with Edna O'Brien, Elizabeth Bowen and Anne Enright, but there are scores of other Irish women whose writing could be called invisible. That prompted Irish broadcaster and journalist Sinéad Gleeson to go on a "treasure hunt" for the 30 stories included in The Long Gaze Back: An Anthology of Irish Women Writers, which has just won the award for Best Irish Published Book for 2015. Ms Gleeson is a broadcaster and critic who presents The Book Show on RTÉ Radio 1. She also writes about arts and culture, and reviews books for The Irish Times.