‘A very Ann way of puttin’ it’: Names, Language and Gender Politics in Frances Molloy’s No Mate for the Magpie

Frances Molloy (1947-1991) was the author of thirteen short stories (collected as Women are the Scourge of the Earth. 1998) and one novel, No Mate for the Magpie (1985), before her untimely death. Slim though this body of work is, it is without doubt significant. No Mate for the Magpie, written in Molloy’s own vernacular, demonstrates both the scope of her interests and her keen literary intelligence. It was and remains, forty years after its publication, a remarkably innovative and original work which deserves a wider reputation. This talk by Dr Eamonn Hughes will concentrate on naming, language and gender politics in the novel.