After the Train

Evelyn Conlon, novelist, short story writer and essayist has published four novels, four collections of short stories, and a compilation of biographical essays titled Reading Rites. She has edited five anthologies. She is an adjunct Professor with Carlow University, Pittsburgh. She was a member of Irishwomen United and a founder member of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. She is a member of Aosdana.Rebecca Pelan has worked in Ireland, Australia, and America in the fields of English, Women's studies, and Irish studies, and has published extensively on Irish fiction and drama. She was editor of Irish Feminist Review, on the editorial board of Hecate, The Australasian Journal of Irish Studies, and guest editor of ANQ.

'This lively and compelling book is timely because, even though it deals with events that mostly occurred around half a century ago, many of the young women involved then are still with us, and it is obvious that they are keen to share accounts of experiences which for them were life-changing.'Elizabeth Malcom, Australasian Journal of Irish Studies‘[A]n eye-opening and evocative mosaic of first-person reflections on the 1975–1977 feminist collective ... After the Train is a timely reminder that many of our rights today were hard-won by activists of the past. We must now defend the right to protest itself.’ Valerie Flynn, The Stinging Fly'"Lest they forget," and as a blueprint for ongoing social justice transformation, After the Train has been durably designed and produced to weather many decades of reading and rereading: to be passed from hand to hand, and down the generations, with future cultural insurgency in mind.'Adrienne Murphy, Irish Times 'This is an inspiring and exhilarating read, as well as being an important social history, which documents the actions of a small group of women who dared to challenge the stifling conservatism of 1970s Ireland.'Margaret Ward, Belfast Telegraph 'The editors are to be congratulated for assembling so many of these passionate voices, and for recognising that feminist activism has a long history in Ireland, much longer than second wave... This is an invigorating history.' Tintean Magazine'Irishwomen United and its allies set the precedent for change for the next generation. The stories of these women campaigners are not only representative of past movements, they also a call to action for future social justice activists in the fight for liberation and equality for all.' Irish Examiner'One of the more prominent topics in the collection, however, is the history of women's incursion into the world of mainstream publishing in Ireland, which resulted in a proliferation of creative and political output since the 1980s. Six of the book's contributors are published authors, three of whom are members of Aosdana. In addition, four more have been directly involved in the development of women's and community publishing, testimony to the important role of women's creative pursuits in the politics of changing Ireland.'Co-editor Rebecca Pelan for Books Ireland'This collection does not claim to give a full picture, but, when added to other work, aims to shed light on actions that, once seen, become hard to ignore.'Sunday Independent