About
In this project, we aim to provide a radically new paradigm for thinking about culture, identity, and politics on the island between 1920 and 1965. Like Bran, the voyager of Irish legend, our project hoists anchor and sails out from familiar territories, the dominant critical narratives of Irish poetry of the period in which regionalism and nationalism operate as exclusive poles within a fractured and traumatised cultural scene. The quotation in our title is suggested by the Lisburn poet Roy McFadden, who took issue with his elder peer John Hewitt's rootedness in regionalism, as well as its alternative: "Our roots travel widely and ignore boundaries and cultural and geographical units."
By looking beyond regionalism and nationalism, we can recover a sense of Irish poetry that is dynamic and collaborative, shaped by international energies, by the crucial, for too-long overlooked role of women, minorities, migrants, and visitors to the island.
Our research will be shared via a digital exhibition, an anthology, audio installations, and scholarly symposia in Belfast and Dublin.
Please check back regularly for updates on these and other news.
BRAN is funded under the North-South Research Programme.