Over the past couple of years, new tones – or new-old tones – have become audible in the way Irish people speak and write about England and the English: tones of scorn, anger and hurt that had rarely been heard in mainstream discourse for the twenty or so years preceding the Brexit vote. Against this backdrop, The Dublin Review asked Irish writers to reflect on their relationships with the people, culture and geography of England. The diversity and vivacity of the essays that resulted – and that appear in our winter issue – suggest that the connection between England and Ireland will remain deep and defining, no matter how horrible Brexit ends up being for Ireland or how profoundly it may poison the well of Anglo-Irish relations.

For the second annual Dublin Review Conversations event, editor Brendan Barrington will be joined by three of the ‘Ireland’s English Question’ essayists: Patrick Freyne, Sinéad Gleeson and Selina Guinness. We hope you’ll join us for a wide-ranging conversation.