New exclusive story coincides with Easter Rising centenary

Roddy Doyle is returning to Metro Éireann with a new story to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising.

Titled ‘2016’, the Booker Prize winner’s latest short story exclusively for Metro Éireann will be published monthly beginning with our next issue on 15 January 2016.

Doyle says the tale, told entirely in dialogue, is “about a small group of like-minded people who plan a revolution to coincide with the anniversary of the 1916 Rising.

“The story will be chaotic, and a bit unplanned - not unlike the 1916 Rising.”

The year 2016 will also mark the 16th anniversary of both Metro Éireann and of Doyle’s contributions to Ireland’s only multicultural newspaper.

Like Doyle’s previous stories for Metro Éireann – many of which were published as the collection The Deportees – ‘2016’ promises to be full of the wit and humour, suspense and surprise he’s known for.

“We continue to be so grateful to Roddy Doyle for his generous support in many ways, including his exclusive short story contributions to Metro Éireann,” said editor Chinedu Onyejelem.

“To us and many of our readers, Roddy’s writings in Metro Eireann are more than work of fiction. They are shaped by and reflect events within multicultural Ireland – and continue to truly help us in our continued pursuit to achieve our mission, to be a channel through which the diverse peoples of Ireland will inform, challenge, understand and learn to respect each other.”

Onyejelem added: “With Doyle you don’t just read very amusing and often emotional stories, you are confronted with the mix of immigrant experiences in a modern Ireland that is struggling with an identity crisis.”

Doyle is also co-founder of Fighting Words, a free creative writing tutoring centre for children and young people that he set up with Seán Love in 2009.

Be sure not to miss any chapter of ‘2016’ by subscribing to Metro Éireann – see page 16 for more.