On Corkscrew Hill chronicles a journey through the contemporary landscape of a nation on its knees. From the prospect of economic oblivion to mounting social problems and a decaying health system, from bankers to builders to the emasculated Irish male, Stephen Murray asks, in a place approaching a century of independence, what it really means to be Irish.
Stephen Murray was born in Ireland in 1974, moving to London a year later. He grew up with his mother and sister in Erin Pizzey’s First Womens Refuge in Chiswick. As a teenager he was twice runner-up in the WH Smith Young Writer of the Year Awards. In 2005 he was crowned Cúirt Grand Slam Champion, and his first collection House of Bees was published by Salmon Poetry in 2011 (ISBN 9781907056710). He lives in County Galway.