In a letter to her editor at The New Yorker, the Irish writer Maeve Brennan described the emotional landscape provided by her mother:

She gave me an ‘asylum for my affections’ and I learned that my affections so far exceeded her ability to understand me that she came near to drowning.

In this new anthology of essays about Maeve Brennan, ten contemporary Irish writers consider the various meanings of the word ‘asylum’: an institution, a site of incarceration, a refuge and a shelter.

They explore cityscapes and girlhood, mythology and folklore, loneliness and transience, the emotional impact of history and diaspora, as well as family connections to Brennan. These 'sketches' offer new and broader perspectives on Brennan’s life and the continuing impact of her work in the 21st century.

Contributors include:
Darran Anderson
Niamh Campbell
Mary Cregan
Roddy Doyle
Arnold Thomas Fanning
Sinéad Gleeson
Belinda McKeon
Éilís Ní Dhuibhne
Kate Phelan
Jessica Traynor