An evening exploring two remarkable voices from Irish-American literature, Mary Lavin and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Modern-day authors Gráinne Hurley (Gratefully and Affectionately: Mary Lavin and The New Yorker) and Patrick O’Sullivan Greene (Gatsby: Death of an Irishman) provide fascinating insights into the remarkable lives and literature, and some surprising connections between their chosen subjects.
Gatsby: Death of an Irishman delivers a fresh and compelling insight into the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald, exploring his complex and evolving relationship with his Irish heritage, and his own self-invention which he used to bring his most iconic character to life while writing the great American novel in Hyères and Saint-Raphaël in 1924.
Patrick O'Sullivan Greene at the Princess Grace Irish Library in 2025 when he gave a talk.
Gratefully and Affectionately: Mary Lavin and The New Yorker (New Island Books, 2025) is the first book to explore Mary Lavin’s relationship with the magazine and her editor Rachel MacKenzie. It also highlights Lavin’s close ties to major literary figures of the day--including Elizabeth Bowen, Eudora Welty, Frank O’Connor, and J. D. Salinger, who first introduced her to the publication—while offering a fascinating window into the mid-century cultural landscape.
Author Gráinne Hurley speaking at her book launch in Dublin. The event opened with an introduction by Kathleen McMahon, granddaughter to Mary Lavin. Gráinne also had a launch in the USA hosted by Glucksman Ireland House (NYU).
Praise for the book:
“A very fine piece of research and beautifully written. Writer and editor are so warmly portrayed, and the insight into their relationship – both professional and personal – is fascinating.”
—Kathleen MacMahon
“A complete portrait of a most complex and brilliant personality.”
— Colm Tóibín
This is the first ever book about Mary Lavin's 18-year working relationship with The New Yorker magazine and in particular her chief editor, Rachel MacKenzie. They wrote nearly four hundred letters to each other and within a year of working together, they were ending their letters with ‘love’, ‘gratefully’ and ‘affectionately’. Lavin was soon offered the magazine’s highly coveted first-reading agreement. Gráinne Hurley’s impressive debut is a fascinating insight into the lives of two brilliant 20th-century literary women. Between 1958 and 1976, Mary Lavin had sixteen stories published in The New Yorker, after J. D. Salinger introduced her to the magazine. It was a prolific time for Lavin, helped in no small part by her close working relationship with her editor.