About the Project

While Shaw is still well-known in Germany, the diversity of Shaw’s work, her life, and her extraordinary memoir Irish Berlin: How I came to Berlin (1990) – published only in German translation – have remained largely unknown in Ireland, both north and south. 

With our project we wish to introduce readers to Shaw’s life and work in different cultural and educational contexts. We will firstly realise the publication of the original English-language version of Shaw’s memoir, including additional illustrations, notes and afterword, with a renowned Irish publisher, as well as raising attention to it among the wider public via cultural events in Dublin and Berlin. 

Shaw’s life and work will be further explored in an international conference in 2026, with an academic OA publication as an outcome. Furthermore, we will develop teaching resources based on Shaw’s work in the context of other illustrated children’s books for the Irish primary school classroom.