We Seldom Talk About the Past is the first selection of short stories from one of Ireland’s great masters of the form. Brought together from a writing career spanning over three decades, the deft and moving fictions in this collection are timeless.

Often compared to John McGahern and Raymond Carver, and deeply influenced by masters of the form such as Chekhov and Mary Lavin, MacKenna’s stories focus on the everyday truths of our lives; the immense significance of small moments, sexual desire and its intimate entanglement with the domestic, as well as acutely felt absences and overbearing social mores.

Always, at the heart of MacKenna’s work, is the deepest sense of place, of the land, and of the innate tuning of our lives to the times and regions we inhabit.