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Dr. Paul Delaney

Associate Professor (English)
ARTS BUILDING
      
Profile Photo

Dr. Paul Delaney

Associate Professor (English)
ARTS BUILDING

 delanep@tcd.ie

 3531896 3841


I received a BA and an MLitt degree in English from Trinity College Dublin. I subsequently obtained my PhD from the Centre for Colonial & Postcolonial Research at the University of Kent (Canterbury), where I was a British Council Chevening scholar. My research engages with 20th and 21st century Irish literature, and it focuses especially on three areas: post-independence Irish writing; censorship; and short fiction. I am the author of 'Anthologisation and Irish Short Fiction: "Magnitudes of Telling"' (Routledge, 2025), and 'Seán O'Faoláin: Literature, Inheritance and the 1930s' (Irish Academic Press, 2014). I have also edited 'David Marcus: Editing Ireland', with Deirdre Madden (The Stinging Fly Press, 2024), 'The Edinburgh Companion to the Short Story in English', with Adrian Hunter (Edinburgh University Press, 2019), 'William Trevor: Revaluations', with Michael Parker (Manchester University Press, 2013), and 'Reading Colm Tóibín' (Liffey Press, 2008). In addition, I co-edited the short-story anthology 'Dublin Tales' (Oxford University Press, 2023), with Eve Patten. I have written extensively on Irish literary culture, publishing in many peer-reviewed journals, bibliographies, and critical collections. A full list of my publications can be found in 'Publications and Further Research Outputs'. I teach at Fresher, Sophister, and MPhil level, and I have supervised numerous PhD and postdoctoral projects to completion. I am also one of the PIs on an innovative co-learning project that the School hosts with colleagues in the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities (TCPID). This project has run annually since Hilary Term 2024, and it is funded under the HEA Path 4 initiative. The project brings together first-year students from English and from TCPID, and it encourages them to learn in an inclusive, collaborative environment. I am a recipient of the Provost's Award for Teaching Excellence (2012); and I was elected a Fellow of College in 2016.
Details Date
External Examiner, PhD in English, University College Dublin October 2026
External Examiner, PhD in English, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore December 2025
External Examiner, PhD in English, Leuven Centre for Irish Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium June 2023
Peer-reader for prestigious publishing houses, including Cambridge University Press, Routledge, Bloomsbury, Palgrave, University of Toronto Press, Cork University Press and Irish Academic Press. 2008 - present
Peer-reader for leading academic journals, including 'Irish University Review', 'The Irish Review', 'Irish Studies Review', 'Éire-Ireland', 'Canadian Journal of Irish Studies', 'New Hibernia Review', 'Short Fiction in Theory & Practice' and 'Journal of the Short Story in English' 2008 - present
Management Board, 'Irish University Review' 2015 - 2021
Books Editor, 'Irish University Review' 2017 - 2021
Joint Editor (with Sinéad Sturgeon), Irish Literature and Culture, 'The Literary Encyclopedia', www.litencyc.com 2021 - 2024
Editorial Board, 'Irish University Review' 2009 - present
Editorial Consultant, 'Journal of the Short Story in English' 2024 - present
External Examiner in English (3-year post), UG and MA module level, School of English, Queen's University, Belfast 2019-2022
External Examiner in English (3-year post), UG and MA programmes, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick 2018-2021
Details Date From Date To
Editorial Board, Irish University Review 2009 present
Member, ENSFR (European Network for Short Fiction Research) 2021 present
Member, IASIL (International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures) 2005 present
Management Board, Irish University Review 2015 2021
'Unobtrusive editors and inclusive practices: the case of David Marcus' in, editor(s)in Ben Fried and Tim Groenland, eds , The Bloomsbury Handbook of Literary Editing, Bloomsbury, 2027, pp[in press] , [Paul Delaney], Book Chapter, IN_PRESS
Paul Delaney, 'Short Fiction, Modes of Circulation, and the Fluidity of Form', Journal of the Short Story in English, 88, (Spring), 2027, p[in press] , Journal Article, IN_PRESS
'Realism and Rural Ireland' in, editor(s)in Christopher Morash, ed , The Cambridge History of the Irish Novel, Cambridge University Press, 2026, pp396 - 410, [Paul Delaney], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
'"What's actually happening": The Stinging Fly, Editorial Practice and Short Fiction' in, editor(s)in Elke D'hoker and Phyllis Boumans, eds , The Edinburgh Companion to Irish Literature and Periodical Culture, Edinburgh University Press, 2026, pp284 - 300, [Paul Delaney], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
'Short stories' in, editor(s)in Allan Hepburn, ed , Elizabeth Bowen in Context, Cambridge University Press, 2026, pp3 - 12, [Paul Delaney], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Des Aston, Rebecca Easler, Méabh Ní Choileáin, Paul Delaney, Owen Barden, Rosie Lavan, Conor McGuckin, and Michael Shevlin, 'Lessons from an Irish University Co-Learning Pilot: Creating Mutual Learning in Shared Educational Spaces', Adult Learning, 2026, phttps://doi.org/10.1177/104515 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Paul Delaney, Anthologisation and Irish Short Fiction: 'Magnitudes of Telling', Routledge, 2025, . 224pp, Book, PUBLISHED
Des Aston, Rebecca Easler, Méabh Ní Choileáin, Paul Delaney, Owen Barden, Rosie Lavan, Conor Mc Guckin, Michael Shevlin, '"The Only Thing to Do": A Report on a Co-learning Pilot at Trinity', Trinity College Dublin, November, 2025, p1 - 48, Notes: [This report offers clear evidence that inclusive higher education is both achievable and beneficial, supporting Ireland"s commitments under the UNCRPD. It shows that students with intellectual disabilities can thrive in mainstream modules when learning is intentionally designed and properly supported, challenging deficit-based assumptions that shape policy. The report also highlights structural barriers, such as timetabling, that require system-level solutions. Overall, it provides a practical model to inform national strategy, funding decisions, and inclusive curriculum standards across the higher education sector.], Report, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Paul Delaney and Deirdre Madden, eds, David Marcus: Editing Ireland, The Stinging Fly Press, 2024, 300pppp, Book, PUBLISHED
'"Occasional, even casual": Padraic Colum, legacy curation, and short fiction' in, editor(s)in Keith O'Sullivan and Pádraic Whyte, eds , The Writings of Padraic Colum: 'That Queer Thing Genius', Routledge, 2024, pp93 - 106, [Paul Delaney], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
  

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Paul Delaney, Review of 'Revival: The Abbey Theatre, Sinn Féin, The Gaelic League and the Co-operative Movement', by P.J. Mathews , Canadian Journal of Irish Studies, 30, (2), 2004, p81-82 , Review, PUBLISHED

  


Award Date
Election to Fellowship, Trinity College Dublin 2016
Provost Award for Teaching Excellence, Trinity College Dublin 2012
University of Kent Postgraduate Teaching Assistantship 1998
British Council Chevening Scholar 1997
Trinity College Dublin Postgraduate Award 1994
20th and 21st century Irish literature. I have particular research interests in the following areas: post-independence Irish writing; censorship; and short fiction. I have been contracted to co-edit 'The Cambridge History of the Irish Short Story', with Elke D'hoker (KU Leuven). This book will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2029, as part of their flagship international 'History' series. The book has been contracted to run to 275,000 words (or 42 individually-authored chapters), and it will cover everything from the emergence of the short story as a literary form to digital culture, small presses, and the proliferation of short stories in recent decades in Ireland. It will include chapters on Irish and English-language short fiction, and it will mark a major intervention in the field. I have also been contracted to edit a new edition of Val Mulkerns's debut volume of short stories 'Antiquities' (1978). This will be published in 2028, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the book's original publication. It will be published by one of Ireland's most prestigious independent feminist publishing houses, Tramp Press, as part of their 'Recovered Voices' series. Finally, I have recently been commissioned by the Estate of Frank O'Connor to edit the selected letters of this major figure of Irish literature. This book will be