Recorded October 14, 2021.

In this first episode of season two, we discuss Lucy Sweeney Byrne’s debut short story collection, Paris Syndrome (2019), and widen the conversation to touch on how ‘Paris syndrome’ as a concept speaks to feelings of millennial disconnection in a globalised world, particularly for young women. We also widen the conversation, examining the parallels between autofiction and internet culture, and delve into the theme of connection as it pertains to public constructions the literary sphere. Lucy troubles the idea of ‘the canon’ as an unproblematic connective concept, explores what it means to be a ‘millennial’ Irish women writer amid a flourishing of writing by young Irish women, and sketches the importance of literary journals and magazines as a vehicle of connection between writers and readers. We finish by discussing some of the links between Lucy’s writing and her mother, Cathy Sweeney’s.

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