BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Irish Literary Society - ECPv6.16.5//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Irish Literary Society
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:UTC
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:UTC
DTSTART:20150101T000000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20181126T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20181126T210000
DTSTAMP:20220909T193200Z
CREATED:20180724T122036Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220909T193200Z
UID:10528-1543260600-1543266000@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Astral Weeks at 50\, a Van Morrison celebration - 26 Nov
DESCRIPTION:  \n\n“Had Astral Weeks\, Ryan H. Walsh’s book on the creation of Van Morrison’s beloved album\, focused on that process alone\, it would have been compelling enough in and of itself. But instead\, Walsh uses the fact that Morrison was living near Boston in 1968 to turn his book into a sprawling account of the city’s interconnected countercultural sects.”Pitchfork\nVan Morrison’s great album turns 50 this November: to celebrate the Irish Literary Society is bringing together three writers (Lucy Caldwell\, Gerald Dawe\, Ryan H. Walsh)  to reflect on its social and cultural influences and the profound musical impact of the album. \nDawe’s book In Another World reflects on how post-war Belfast\, where Morrison grew up and formed Them\, shaped his music. Walsh’s Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 considers the impact of Boston\, where Morrison lived at the time\, on the making of the album\, the book is also a sprawling account of the city’s interconnected countercultural sects. Walsh reflects on the origins of a masterpiece that has touched generations of listeners and influenced everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Martin Scorsese. Caldwell\, also from Belfast\, has written of her own work\, ‘…the music of Van Morrison in general and of Astral Weeks in particular is something of a guiding spirit to my stories.’ Belfast musician\, Donal Scullion\, will play a special set from the album. \n‘[Dawe’s] lovely and lively little book … is all about lost moments\, fleeting possibilities and half-forgotten histories. In a city that was\, as Dawe puts it\, “defined by work”\, Morrison represented a different\, more liberated\, kind of labour. Another world indeed\, a past captured in these bittersweet essays that might also stand for a possible future.’ Fintan O'Toole in The Irish Times\nA signing will follow the event.  \nChair: Lucy Caldwell\n\n\n \nCaldwell was born in Belfast in 1981. She is the author of three novels and several stage plays and radio dramas. Awards include the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature\, the Dylan Thomas Prize\, the George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright\, the BBC Stewart Parker Award\, a Fiction Uncovered Award and a Major Individual Artist Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Her debut collection of short stories\, Multitudes\, was published by Faber in 2016\, of it she has written ‘…the music of Van Morrison in general and of Astral Weeks in particular is something of a guiding spirit to my stories.’ Lucy is the editor of Being Various: New Irish Short Stories which will be published by Faber 2nd May 2019. \n\nSpeaker: Gerald Dawe\n\n\n\nGerald Dawe is a retired Professor of English and Fellow of Trinity College\, Dublin. He has published eight collections of poetry and several volumes of essays\, and he is the recipient of numerous awards and honours\, including the Macaulay Fellowship in Literature. His latest poetry collection Mickey Finn’s Air\, was published in 2014; Of War and War’s Alarms: Reflections on Modern Irish Writing appeared in 2015. In Another World is available from online retailers and the Irish Academic Press. \n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\nSpeaker: Ryan H. Walsh\n\n\n\nRyan H. Walsh is a musician and journalist. His culture writing has appeared in the Boston Globe\, Vice\, and Boston Magazine. He was a finalist for the Missouri School of Journalism’s City and Regional Magazine Award for his feature on Van Morrison’s year in Boston\, from which this book developed. His rock band Hallelujah the Hills has won praise from Spin magazine and Pitchfork; collaborated on a song with author Jonathan Lethem; and toured the U.S. extensively over their 10-year existence. The band won a Boston Music Award for Best Rock Artist\, and Walsh has twice won the award for Best Video Direction. He lives in Boston with his wife\, the acclaimed singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler. Astral Weeks\, a Secret History of 1968 is available from online retailers. \nMusic: Donal Scullion\n\n\n \nFeaturing a set in tribute to the album that blessed us with such tracks as Madam George\, Cyprus Avenue and Sweet Thing\, Donal Scullion makes a solo appearance celebrating East Belfast’s most famous troubadour and one of the finest rock albums ever recorded. For more about Donal and his work on Astral Weeks with his 9-piece band see his site.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/astral-weeks-celebration/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell St\, London\, WC1B 3NN\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:music,social history
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/astral-weeks-slidervan.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20181119T060000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20181119T200000
DTSTAMP:20181003T201353Z
CREATED:20180912T131231Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20181003T201353Z
UID:10798-1542607200-1542657600@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:On the Pavement Grey: WB Yeats in Utopian Bedford Park - 19 Nov
DESCRIPTION:Lecture by Cahal Dallat with guests Ciarán Hinds and Anne-Marie Fyfe & launch of the WB Yeats Bedford Park Artwork Project\n \nNobel-prizewinning poet\, WB Yeats\, though much inspired by Irish legend\, landscape and longing\, spent two-thirds of his youth in London\, the majority of that time in Chiswick’s Bedford Park\, the Utopian/aesthetic garden-suburb/artists’-colony whose diverse inhabitants fostered his literary talent and endeavours. Irish poet and literary critic\, Cahal Dallat\, has lived within a few blocks of the Yeats family’s two Bedford Park homes for all of his adult life and\, fascinated by the way Willie\, his father\, and his artistic siblings\, negotiated the metropolis’s social networks\, while dreaming of Sleuth Wood or Ben Bulben\, has lectured on the importance to Victorian London of Irish artists (poets\, painters\, playwrights\, composers\, and politicians\, for politics\, too\, is an art in Ireland) … and on the usefulness of London’s complex intersections and patronage to often-penniless\, in a genteel way\, exiled geniuses. In Bedford Park’s heady progressive atmosphere (and its winding if artificially villagey avenues) lay the seeds of Yeats’s genius\, not to mention contemporary theatre\, Modernist poetry and political and cultural changes that would invert the social and imperial order in the 20th century. With contributions and readings from Yeats’s letters and poems by actor Ciarán Hinds and poet Anne-Marie Fyfe.\n \nThe 2018 Irish Literary Society WB Yeats Lecture at the Embassy of Ireland launches the WB Yeats Bedford Park Artwork Project founded to mark Yeats’s role in Bedford Park and Bedford Park’s role in Yeats’s artistic development and life\, by placing a permanent artwork at the heart of this progressive\, 19c\, and beautifully preserved\, garden suburb. \nTo apply for an ILS members ticket contact the Hon. Secretary: irishlitsoc@gmail.com Image credit: Camille Pissarro\, Fete de Jubilee a Bedford Park\, 1897. \nSpeakers:  Cahal DallatCahal Dallat is a poet\, musician\, critic (b. Ballycastle\, Co. Antrim)\, regular BBC Radio 4 Saturday Review contributor since 1998\, reviewer for TLS and Guardian among others\, founder/organiser of WB Yeats Bedford Park Artwork Project\, and Charles Causley Trust Centenary musician/poet-in-residence. Former winner of Ireland’s leading poetry prize\, the Strokestown International\, his recent awards include the 2017 Keats-Shelley Poetry Prize\, and a 2018 Harry Ransom Center Research Fellowship at University of Texas in Austin (supported by CP Snow Memorial Fund). Latest collection The Year of Not Dancing (Blackstaff); www.cahaldallat.com \n Ciarán Hinds \nCiarán Hinds was born in Belfast: his television roles include Gaius Julius Caesar in the series Rome and Mance Rayder in Game of Thrones while film has included the lead role in John Banville’s The Sea\, and playing opposite Daniel Day Lewis in Upton Sinclair’s There Will Be Blood.  As a stage actor his recent appearances include Conor McPherson’s The Night Alive\, Hamlet with Bendict Cumberbatch at the Barbican\, McPherson’s ‘Bob Dylan musical’ The Girl from the North Country at the Old Vic\,  and the role of Hugh O’Donnell in Brian Friel’s Translations at the National.   \n Anne-Marie Fyfe \nAfter five poetry collections including House of Small Absences (Seren\, 2015)\, poet\, arts organiser\, creative-writing teacher & former Poetry Society chair\,  Anne-Marie Fyfe\, is currently embarked on a unique Arts-Council-funded 18-month teaching/writing/performing tour\, The Voyage Out\, exploring coastal regions & lives in Britain\, Ireland\, US & Canada\, leading to a new hybrid poetry/prose/travel-writing memoir (due\, Seren\, Spring 2019). Born in Cushendall\, Co. Antrim\, Anne-Marie lives in London where she has run Coffee-House Poetry’s readings & classes at London’s leading live literature venue\, the Troubadour\, since 1997. www.annemariefyfe.com
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/on-the-pavement-grey-wb-yeats-in-utopian-bedford-park-19-nov/
LOCATION:The Embassy of Ireland\, 17 Grosvenor Pl\, London \, London\, SW1X 7HR
CATEGORIES:architecture,biography,Collaboration,exile,history,poetry,social history,special event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/pavement-gray.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20181029T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20181029T210000
DTSTAMP:20181112T135217Z
CREATED:20180911T070122Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20181112T135217Z
UID:10758-1540841400-1540846800@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Troubling the Classics - 29 Oct
DESCRIPTION:For our October event we’re bringing together a poet\, a novelist and a dramatist to reflect on their work and its place in a rich seam of Irish literature inspired by the Greeks. The continuing interest of Irish writers in Greek and Latin classical literature as a model and source for inspiration is somewhat surprising given the almost complete disappearance of the teaching of classical languages in Irish schools over the last 50 years. Yet the myths and stories of the ancient world still fascinate audiences and our writers continue to deliver fresh interpretations which reflect on Irish society.  \n‘The violence lies in Carr’s language\, shocking and extraordinarily vivid: we almost hear the buzzing of carrion flies\, smell the stench of carnage.’The Times\nThe nationalist attempt to recover the native\, suppressed\, literary tradition of Ireland found a model in 5th century BCE Athenians and their reaching back to the foundational epics of Homer. From the 19th century Irish translations of Greek tragedy were tied up in a project of recovery of a bardic tradition; from Yeats to Heaney this poetic tradition continued and absorbed great figures of modern poetry like MacNeice\, Boland\, Mahon and Kennelly. More recently that tradition has broadened and our dramatists and novelists have found intriguing correspondences in form and culture with the Greeks e.g. Alan McMonagle’s novel Ithaca\, Theo Dorgan’s collections Orpheus and Greek\, Peter Fallon’s versions of Hesiod and of the Georgics of Virgil\, and Frank McGuinness’ startling new versions of Greek drama. Our three guests representing the dramatic\, poetic and prose novel forms will discuss their work and the appeal and relevance of ancient literature. ‘Part of the thrill is recognising the correspondences between the characters and Homer’s originals . . . the language is enough to keep you enthralled . . . Hughes’s achievement is to prove that Homer remains ignoble\, messy and horribly familiar — Guardian’The Guardian Marina Carr’s plays bring alive the Greek classics in a uniquely contemporary and Irish manner. In By the Bog of Cats she reconstructs Medea\, in her Hecuba she positions the Queen at the centre of a drama clearly intended as a corrective to Euripides\, who portrays Hecuba as an enraged avenger. Michael Hughes’s widely praised second novel Country transposes the Illiad to border country\, Northern Ireland\, post-ceasefire\, 1996. After a woman turns informer\, an IRA gang takes matters into its own hands and storms the local British army base. But there is a falling out between Pig\, the gang’s leader\, and the sniper\, Achill. Death and betrayal follow. The poet Peter McDonald’s has lately developed an interest in verse translation from Greek and in 2016 produced The Homeric Hymns (2016)\, a series of verse translations into different English forms\, along with detailed notes on the ancient Greek poems themselves. Speakers:  Marina CarrOne of Ireland’s most celebrated playwrights whose poetic tragedies often reinterpret ancient myth and address violence and the place of women in Irish life. Across her great Midlands-set plays Carr creates a timeless version of Ireland\, replete with ghosts\, ill-fated women and tragic families. Throughout her work Carr’s engagement with myth and folktale can be read as a richly imaginative reflection on the development of Irish cultural identity. In 2017 Carr was awarded the Windham-Campbell Prize. She is a lecturer in Dublin City University’s School of English. She is working on new plays for the Abbey and the Kiln Theatre in London\, the latter about Clytemnestra in the aftermath of the Trojan war will appear in 2019-2020 season.  Dr Florence Impens (Chair)Dr Impens holds a PhD in English from Trinity College\, Dublin\, as well as MAs in French and in Irish Studies from Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3. Her book Classical Presences in Irish Poetry after 1960: The Answering Voice provides the first overview of classical presences in Anglophone Irish poetry after 1960. Focusing on classical presences in the work of Seamus Heaney\, Michael Longley\, Derek Mahon\, and Eavan Boland. She is the author notably of ‘Classics and Irish Poetry after 1960’ in the forthcoming 5th volume of the Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature (Kenneth Haynes Ed.)\, and of ‘Classical Roots’ in Seamus Heaney in Context (Geraldine Higgins Ed.)\, due out with Cambridge University Press.  Michael HughesMichael Hughes grew up in Keady\, Co. Armagh\, and now lives in London. He attended St Patrick’s Grammar School in Armagh and read English at Corpus Christi College\, Oxford before training in theatre at the Jacques Lecoq School in Paris. He has worked for many years as an actor under the professional name Michael Colgan\, and he also teaches creative writing. His first novel\, The Countenance Divine\, was published by John Murray in 2016. His widely praised novel Country is published by Hodder & Stoughton and available now.  Professor Peter McDonaldProfessor Peter McDonald (born 1962 in Belfast) is a poet\, Professor of English and Related Literature\, he holds the post of Christopher Tower Student and Tutor in Poetry in the English Language at Christ Church\, Oxford and is a Fellow of St Hugh’s College. He produced the modern edition of the Collected Poems of Louis MacNeice (2007). The focus of his research now is the editing of W.B. Yeats’s Complete Poems for the Longman Annotated Poets series. He has published six original volumes of poetry since 1989\, most recently Herne the Hunter (2016)\, and his Collected Poems were published in 2012. A signing of Michael Hughes’ Country and Peter McDonald’s The Homeric Hymns will follow the event.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/troubling-the-classics/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell St\, London\, WC1B 3NN\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Classics,Greek,history,Latin,novel,poetry,Reading,research,theatre,tradition,translation
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/troubling-classics_slider.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20181016T110000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20181016T123000
DTSTAMP:20181004T071700Z
CREATED:20181003T165420Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20181004T071700Z
UID:10959-1539687600-1539693000@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Archive of the Irish in Britain visit - 16 Oct
DESCRIPTION:We are delighted to announce a special members-only visit to the Archive of the Irish in Britain. The Archive consists of collections of documents\, audio and video recordings\, books\, photographs and ephemera cataloguing the history of the Irish in Britain from the late nineteenth century to the present day.  \nDr Tony Murray\, the curator of the archive\, will give an introductory talk and lead two groups through unique materials in the archive before leading a question and answer session.  There are two sessions available to paid-up ILS members with a capacity of 10 members for each session\, so we’ll have to operate on a first-come\, first-served basis for this visit. If you would like to book for the visit please e-mail the Honorary Secretary stating your time-slot preference: irishlitsoc@gmail.com. We expect this event will be over-subscribed so we’re sorry if we cannot accommodate everybody on this occasion. \nSLOT 1: 11am-12.30pm \nSLOT 2: 2pm-3.30pm   \nThe archive has been a crucial resource for the development of The Irish Studies Centre\, see the video above for more details on the history of the archive and the centre.  \n  \nTransport:  \nNearest underground (Tube): Aldgate East (Circle and Hammersmith & City) and Aldgate (Metropolitan) \nNearest Bus(es): 415\, 25\, 67\, 115\, 205\, 254Parking Details: Parking is very restricted.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/archive-of-the-irish-in-britain-visit-16-oct/
LOCATION:Archive of the Irish in Britain\, 16 Goulston Street\, London\, E1 7TP\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:archive,Collaboration,documentary,exile,history,Members only-event,research,social history
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180924T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180924T210000
DTSTAMP:20220909T192904Z
CREATED:20180826T123843Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220909T192904Z
UID:10552-1537817400-1537822800@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:The Irish Way of Death - 24 Sept
DESCRIPTION:The Irish Literary Society opens its 2018-19 season with a meditation on death\, dying and our attitudes to mortality. In his book\, The Way We Die Now\, Dr. O’Mahony gives us a rare glimpse into the world of death and dying from the vantage point of a medical doctor. In My Father’s Wake Toolis writes of his coming-to-terms with the death of his father and brother and reflects on the denial of space for grief in the modern world. Of Toolis’ book Hugo Hamilton has written: “Toolis has written a profound book on the culture of grief and death\, placing the personal alongside the political in a vivid exploration of our ancient ways of coming together around the dead.” \n\n\n‘O’Mahony explores the idea of a good death in literature and philosophy\, and shows that reality is far more chaotic and unpleasant…A searingly honest and humane book that is challenging yet profoundly important.’P D Smith in The Guardian\n\n\n\nWhat have we lost in moving from the funeral rites of Achill to the medicalised procedure that most of us now experience of death? These rich accounts of care for the dying and dead offer a critique of the idea of a ‘good death’\, a reflection on the literary history of death and the role of the hospital as antechamber to the tomb. Henry James called death ‘the distinguished thing’\, but O’Mahony reminds us\, ‘death\, for most people\, is banal\, anticlimactic. The End is robbed of its significance by our new hospital rituals. Most people who die in hospitals do so after several days of syringe-driver induced oblivion.’ Book signing to follow discussion. \n\n  \n\nSpeaker: Kevin Toolis\n\n\n\nKevin Toolis is a writer and filmmaker. He has written for The Guardian\, the New York Times Magazine and The Observer and reported on conflicts in Africa\, Ireland and the Middle East. He is the author of an acclaimed chronicle of Ireland’s Troubles\, Rebel Hearts. As a filmmaker Toolis was nominated for an Emmy for his documentaries on suicide bombing in the Middle East and won a BAFTA for Best Single Drama for Complicit in 2014. His family have lived in the same oceanside village on Achill island for the last 250 years. \n\n\n\nSpeaker: Dr Seamus O’Mahony\n\n\n\nDr Seamus O’Mahony is a Consultant Gastroenterologist at Cork University Hospital and graduate of UCC. He has been a consultant physician since 1996\, and is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London and Edinburgh. His has published extensively in the fields of endoscopy\, coeliac disease and inflammatory bowel disease\, and was awarded the MD in 1991. His current main academic interest is medical humanities\, and has written extensively in this field. He is associate editor for medical humanities of the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh\, and is a regular contributor to the Dublin Review of Books. \n\n\n\nChair: Prof Anthea Tinker\n\n\n\nAnthea Tinker has been Professor of Social Gerontology at King’s College London since 1988. She has been on the staff of three Universities and three Government Departments and has been a Consultant to the WHO\, EU and OECD. She has undertaken a wide range of research in the field of social policy specialising since 1974 in gerontology. She is the author or co-author of 32 books and over 300 articles and book chapters.  \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/the-irish-way-of-death/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell St\, London\, WC1B 3NN\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:folklore,lecture,medical,Reading,social history
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/irish-way-of-death-slider.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180611T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180611T203000
DTSTAMP:20180515T095632Z
CREATED:20180511T175103Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180515T095632Z
UID:10463-1528745400-1528749000@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:AGM - 11 June
DESCRIPTION:ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING\, 11 June 2018\, 7.30pm\nLocation: Irish Cultural Centre\, Hammersmith  \nAll current members of the Society are invited to attend and participate at the ILS AGM. The meeting is an opportunity for the Committee to report and be questioned on the performance of the Society\, its plans and its financial situation. It is also an opportunity for members to offer their thoughts on the state of the Society\, to seek election and to vote on resolutions. We hope to attract greater member attendance this year as the Committee will put to the membership a proposal to allow a significant change in the Society’s rules i.e. that we apply to the Charities Commission to form the Society into a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). Further information on how we have reached the decision to make this proposal will be given in a report by the Honorary Secretary\, a summary of that report can be read here. If you are interested in seeking election to the Committee please contact the Honorary Secretary (irishlitsoc@gmail.com) if you would like further information about the duties and responsibilities involved. A form for proposing a member for election to the Committee can be found below.  \nAGENDA \n1. Apologies\n3. Minutes from 2017 AGM\n4. Matters Arising\n5. Honorary Secretary’s Report\n6. Chairman’s Report\n7. Treasurer’s Report\n8. Membership Secretary’s Report\n9. Report on proposed constitutional changes\n10. Vote on constitutional changes\n11. Election of the Officers & Committee for the ILS Season 2017-18\, voting if\nnecessary.\n12. Appointment of Honorary Auditors\n13. Plans for 2018-19\n14. AOB \nMembers are invited to propose candidates for the election of Officers and Committee members for the ILS Season 2018-19. All candidates must be proposed and seconded by members of the ILS and the candidate must sign the proposal forms. Forms must be returned to the Honorary Secretary by 28 May (download the form here for more details). \nThe present Officers and Committee members are eligible for re-election. The Officers of the Society are the President\, one or two Vice-Presidents\, the Chairman\, Deputy Chairman\, one or two Honorary Secretaries\, the Honorary Treasurer and the Honorary Membership Secretary. As directed by our Rules the Committee shall consist of the Officers and up to 6 other members\, all of whom to be elected annually\, except in the cases of the President and Vice Presidents who shall be invited to serve by the Committee. Three further members may be co-opted by the Committee during the course of a year \n\n\nDownload the nomination form from here:Nomination Form
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/agm-11-june/
LOCATION:Irish Cultural Centre\, Hammersmith\, 5 Black’s Road Hammersmith\, W6 9DT\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Members only-event,special event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/agm.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180521T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180521T203000
DTSTAMP:20180829T131846Z
CREATED:20171212T194151Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180829T131846Z
UID:9914-1526931000-1526934600@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Border Walk: Garrett Carr and Iain Sinclair - 21 May
DESCRIPTION:First this three-hundred-mile line demarcated counties\, then countries and will next be the frontier of the European Union. As the uncertain agreements and ‘statements of intent’ are confirmed and disavowed by the UK and EU representatives over the Irish border we look at the topography of this line on the map and consider the human geography of borderlands. Cartographer\, artist and writer Garrett Carr has in his book The Rule of the Land told the story of Ireland’s border and a created a portrait of its landscape and people. Carr will join in conversation with the writer and filmmaker Iain Sinclair whose work is rooted in London and lately within the influences of psychogeography.“Garrett Carr engages a mapmaker’s eye and a writer’s sensibility to create a great book” The Irish Times.\n\nWe pass here into another allegiance\,\nexpect new postage stamps\, new prices\, manifestoes\,\nand brace ourselves for the change. But the landscape does not alter;\nwe had already entered these mountains an hour ago.\nFrom The Frontier\, by John Hewitt 1962\n\nBoth writers have explored borderlands and those neglected blanks on the map that hide so much of our past\, the disconnect between mapped boundaries and shared experience. Sinclair’s fascinating and haunting book London Orbital recounts the year he spent walking around the M25 – the motorway that encircles London. Carr’s The Rule of the Land explores a fragile borderland\, with an uncertain future. By foot or canoe he followed the border closely. At night he camped out on the land. He visited architecture on the border\, forts and dykes as well as defensive buildings of the Troubles. His engagements those living on the frontier\, bring us the lived experience of the line on the map.\n‘Here in this brilliant\, crackling series of final walks through the London landscape\, he finds the dissolving identity of the city increasingly disconcerting.’ Review of The Last London in The Observer.\n\n\nSpeaker: Garrett Carr\n\nGarrett Carr was born in Donegal in 1975. He has previously published three Young Adult novels. A lecturer in Creative Writing at Queen’s University\, he lives in Belfast with his family. His research interests include writing about place\, history and memoir. He is also a map-maker and publishs academically on the topic of cartography. He holds an MA in Art History\, an MPhil in Geography and a PhD in Creative Writing. In his exhibition Mapping Alternative Ulster he brought together diverse mapmakers: local historians\, activists\, artists\, geographers and urban planners for a show of maps. See his website here: http://www.garrettcarr.net/\n\n\nSpeaker: Iain Sinclair\n\nIain Sinclair is the award-winning writer of numerous critically acclaimed books on London\, including Lights Out for the Territory\, London Orbital and London Overground. The son of a Welsh GP\, Sinclair studied in Dublin before moving to London with his wife. His early work was self-published\, and he worked as a teacher and labourer while researching occult aspects of the city’s past. He won the Encore Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel Downriver. Sinclair has been documenting the peculiar magic of the river-city that absorbs and obsesses him for most of his adult life. He lives in Hackney\, East London. In his most recent book\, The Last London (2017)\, he strikes out on a series of solitary walks and collaborative expeditions to make a final reckoning with a capital stretched beyond recognition. See his website here: http://www.iainsinclair.org.uk/\n\nSpread the word:
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/border-walk-garrett-carr-and-iain-sinclair-21-may/
LOCATION:Irish Cultural Centre\, Hammersmith\, 5 Black’s Road Hammersmith\, W6 9DT\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:book signing,cycling,history,interview,nature,Reading,social history,walking
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/border-walking.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180430T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180430T203000
DTSTAMP:20180422T224539Z
CREATED:20180116T231722Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180422T224539Z
UID:10083-1525116600-1525120200@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Micheál Ó Conghaile - 30 April
DESCRIPTION:The ILS is delighted to announce that the ILS / ITS Noel O’Connell Annual Memorial Lecture will be given by Micheál Ó Conghaile on his Irish language translations of the London-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh and the Irish language literary scene today. Ag aistriú Martin Mc Donagh ansin dfheadainn labhairt faoi scribhneoireacht agus foilsitheoireacht na Gaeilge inniu agus ceisteanna a fhreagairt. Ó Conghaile’s translations of McDonagh’s work – The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Banríon Álainn an Líonáin)\, The Cripple of Inishmaan (Cripil Inis Meáin)\, and The Lonesome West (Ualach an Uaignis) – have received acclaimed productions by the Galway International Arts Festival.  \nPlease note that the venue for this event is the Irish Cultural Centre\, Hammersmith. For the ILS April and May events while our usual home the Bloomsbury Hotel is being refurbished we will be at the ICC Hammersmith. \nÓ Conghaile was born and is based in Connemara\, Galway\, he is a member of Aosdána and established the publishing house\, Cló Iar-Chonnacht in 1985. This event is organised in conjunction with the Irish Texts Society. You can read his short story The Colours of a Man here. The talk will be delivered in English with readings in Irish and English by the actor Aonghus Weber. \nPresented in association with the Irish Texts Society:\n\n\n\nSpeaker:\n\nMicheál Ó Conghaile\nMicheál Ó Conghaile was born in Inis Treabhair\, Galway\, in 1962. He established the publishing company Cló Iar-Chonnachta (CIC) in 1985 and has since published over 300 books and 200 traditional Irish music albums and spoken word albums to date. \nHis short stories are collected as Mac an tSagairt (Gallimh\, Cló Iar-Chonnachta\,1986); An Fear a Phléasc (Cló Iar-Chonnachta\, 1997)\, An Fear nach nDéanann Gáire (Cló Iar-Chonnachta\, 2003); and The Colours of Man (Cló Iar-Chonnachta\, 2012). His novels include Sna Fir (Cló Iar-Chonnachta\, 1999)\, which was shortlisted for The Irish Times Literature Awards 2001; and the novella Seachrán Jeaic Sheáin Johnny (Cló Iar-Chonnachta\, 2002). His poetry is collected as Comhrá Cailí (1987). His plays include Cúigear Chonamara (Gallimh\, An Taibhdhearc\, 2003)\, translated by Una Ní Chonchuir as The Connemara Five (Galway\, Arlen House\, 2007); and Jude\, one of the winners of Gradam Cuimhneacháin Bháitéir Uí Mhaicín\, and published as Jude (Cló Iar-Chonnachta\, 2007). He has translated Martin McDonagh’s plays The Beauty Queen of Leenane as Banríon Álainn an Líonáin; and The Lonesome West as Ualach an Uaignis (Cló Iar-Chonnachta\, 2002). He translated the Irish-language film Kings (directed by Tom Collins. 2007)\, based on the English-language play The Kings of the Kilburn High Road\, by Jimmy Murphy. His works have been translated into various languages\, including Romanian\, Croatian\, Albanian\, German and English. A member of Aosdána\, he lives in Indreabhán\, County Galway. \n\nAonghus Weber\nAonghus was born and has lived most of his life in Ireland. He moved to London after training at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. In Ireland Aonghus worked extensively in TV and film: a founding cast member of TG4’s long running soap opera Ros na Rún and a cast member of RTE’s television drama series Glenroe. \nSpread the word:
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/micheal-o-conghaile-30-april/
LOCATION:Irish Cultural Centre\, Hammersmith\, 5 Black’s Road Hammersmith\, W6 9DT\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:history,Irish language,lecture,Reading,theatre,tradition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Micheál-Ó-Conghaile-4.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180326T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180326T203000
DTSTAMP:20180118T000617Z
CREATED:20171207T225547Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180118T000617Z
UID:9879-1522092600-1522096200@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Dervla Murphy - 26 March
DESCRIPTION:Dervla Murphy is Ireland’s most prolific travel writer who for five decades has travelled the world mostly alone\, and mostly by bicycle. A fiercely independent woman who turned her back on societal conventions at a time when few were as brave\, she observed and recorded the world with wonder and curiosity\, and an astute political sensibility. Few have ever explored the world on two wheels as has Dervla Murphy\, she joins us to reflect on her literary work and the great journeys she has undertaken.  \n‘An extraordinary book\, reflecting an extraordinary woman and one of the great travellers of our time.’William Trevor\, on Wheels Within Wheels in The Times \nMurphy’s extraordinary autobiography\, Wheels Within Wheels\, documents her travelling life since 1963\, tracing the her route from Ireland to India by bike\, via Afghanistan. Her last journey was to Palestine and is recounted in Between River and Sea: Encounters in Israel and Palestine. Before that there have been some 20 other books\, about journeys that have taken her all over the world\, from Peru to Pakistan\, from Africa\, India and Siberia to Cuba\, Romania and Laos. \nIn all her journeys\, she has biked\, walked or simply improvised her way through countries when bikes broke down or were stolen\, or her own limbs proved temporarily untrustworthy. Only weeks into her first journey in 1963\, she shot a wolf that threatened attack in rural Yugoslavia by using a gun she had acquired and learnt to use in Ireland\, with the support of helpful\, if astounded\, Lismore gardaí. Nothing thereafter\, including increasing age\, ever appears to have daunted her. Murphy will join Dorothy Allen in conversation.  \n\nSpeaker: Dervla Murphy\n\nDervla Murphy was born on 28 November 1931 of parents whose families were both settled in Dublin as far back as can be traced. Her grandfather and most of his family were involved in the Irish Republican movement. Her father was appointed Waterford County Librarian in 1930 after three years internment in Wormwood Scrubs prison and seven years at the Sorbonne. Her mother was invalided by arthritis when Dervla was one year old. She was educated at the Ursuline Convent in Waterford until she was fourteen\, when\, because of the wartime shortage of servants\, she left to keep house for her father and to nurse her mother. Dervla did this for sixteen years with occasional breaks bicycling on the Continent. Her mother’s death left her free to go farther afield and in 1963 she cycled to India. There she worked with Tibetan refugee children before returning home after a year to write her first two books. \nDervla Murphy’s first book\, Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle\, was published in 1965. Over 20 other titles have followed. Dervla has won worldwide praise for her writing and has been described as a ‘travel legend’ and ‘the first lady of Irish cycling’. Now in her 80s\, she continues to travel around the world and remains passionate about politics\, conservation\, bicycling and beer. Dervla is now published by Eland. \nSpread the word:
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/dervla-murphy-26-march/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:book signing,cycling,feminism,history,interview,social history,travel,women
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/dervla_murphy_slider.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180219T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180219T210000
DTSTAMP:20180208T101132Z
CREATED:20171207T203821Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180208T101132Z
UID:9857-1519068600-1519074000@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Jews in Irish Literature - 19 Feb
DESCRIPTION:The Irish Literary Society is engaging with writers and academics to reflect on ‘Representations of Jews in Irish Literature’. The innovative research project of the same title was developed out of NUI Galway and Ulster University and forms the centre of tonight’s event. The main objective of the project is to analyse representations of Jews in Irish literature from the earliest times to the present. The project is investigating references to Jews in Irish literature\, whether in Irish or English\, and is collecting more substantial references into an anthology of such writing. In addition to a talk on the findings we will be welcoming a novelist\, poet and scriptwriter to read from and reflect on their work which explores Jewish-Irish connections.  \nThe academic and creative work presented explores the processes of othering by investigating the forces in consciousness and culture which generate the assumptions\, biases\, stereotypes and myths out of which the Jewish other is produced. The representation of the Jew in Irish literature actually tells us much more about Irish than about Jewish identity\, how in fact a whole psychohistory of Irishness is hidden in these neglected representations. \nPresented in association with the Representations of the Jews in Irish Literature Project:\n\n\nSpeaker:\n\nDr Barry Montgomery \nBarry Montgomery is an Irish literary scholar specialising in Irish Jewish Studies and Irish Fiction. He has contributed seven chapters (from the Early Modern Period to the present in Irish fiction\, drama and poetry) to the forthcoming co-authored critical volume of the AHRC funded Ulster University and NUI Galway Representations of Jews in Irish Literature project. He forms part of the project team for the accompanying Exhibition\, which he has promoted on RTÉ radio\, Irish television\, and newspaper interviews\, delivering lectures on Irish Jewish Literary Studies at the Royal Irish Academy\, Dublin\, at The Linen Hall Library\, Belfast (to mark Holocaust Memorial Day\, 2017)\, and related conference papers at The University of Notre Dame\, Indiana\, and Georgetown University\, Washington DC. He has written on Ruth Gilligan’s Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan\, has contributed to the forthcoming Crime Fiction – A Critical Casebook (Peter Lang)\, writing on Richard Head’s The English Rogue (1665)\, and contributed several entries on early nineteenth century fiction to The Cambridge Guide to the Eighteenth-Century Novel\, 1660-1820.\n  \n\nRuth Gilligan\nRuth Gilligan is an Irish novelist and journalist now living in London and working as a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. She has published four novels to date\, and was the youngest ever person to reach number one on the Irish bestsellers’ list. Her most recent novel\, Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan (2016)\, was based around the history of the Jewish community in Ireland\, and garnered major critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. Her short stories have appeared in publications such as The Istanbul Review\, The Irish Pages\, Ambit and Banshee Lit. She writes regular literary reviews for the Guardian\, the TLS\, the LA Review of Books and the Irish Independent where she was a columnist for a number of years. She is also part of the global organisation Narrative 4 which uses storytelling as a tool to foster empathy between diverse communities. \n  \n\nSimon Lewis\nSimon Lewis was the winner of the Hennessy Prize for Emerging Poetry and the runner up in the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award in 2015. He also featured in Poetry Ireland’s Introductions series the same year. He has been shortlisted for the Shine/Strong Award\, Listowel Poetry Prize\, Strokestown International Poetry Prize and Bridport Prize and received commendations in the Gregory O’Donoghue prize and Dromineer Literary Prize. He has also been published in many literary journals and magazines including The Stony Thursday\, Boyne Berries\, Literary Orphans\, The Stinging Fly\, Bare Hands\, and Irish Literary Review. His first collection\, Jewtown\, was published in 2016 by Doire Press. \nSpread the word:
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/jews-in-irish-literature-19-feb/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:book signing,exile,folklore,history,interview,judaism,lecture,novel,poetry,politics,Reading,religion,research,social history
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/jews-irish-lit-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180129T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180129T210000
DTSTAMP:20180826T111002Z
CREATED:20170812T170028Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180826T111002Z
UID:9364-1517254200-1517259600@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Roddy Doyle - 29 Jan
DESCRIPTION:One of Ireland’s best-loved writers makes his first appearance at the Irish Literary Society. Doyle joins us in conversation on his books\, films\, educational work and his forthcoming novel\, Smile. It tells the captivating story of Victor Forde\, for whom a chance meeting in a pub conjures up long-buried childhood memories – and it’s a book about how we all struggle to accommodate our past selves.\nThere is not a writer currently working in the English language who can match Doyle for the fluency with which he tacks back and forth between the hilarious and the heartbreaking.\nThe New York Times Book Review\nA chance meeting with an old school friend leads his protagonist on a journey back to being taught by Christian Brothers. Smile has all the features for which Doyle has become famous: the razor-sharp dialogue\, the humour\, the superb evocation of childhood – but this is a novel unlike any he has written before. Just moved in to a new apartment\, alone for the first time in years\, Victor Forde goes every evening to Donnelly’s pub for a pint\, a slow one. One evening his drink is interrupted. A man in shorts and pink shirt brings over his pint and sits down. He seems to know Victor’s name and to remember him from school. Says his name is Fitzpatrick. Victor dislikes him on sight\, dislikes too the memories that Fitzpatrick stirs up of five years being taught by the Christian Brothers. He prompts other memories too – of Rachel\, his beautiful wife who became a celebrity\, and of Victor’s own small claim to fame\, as the man who says the unsayable on the radio. But it’s the memories of school\, and of one particular Brother\, that he cannot control and which eventually threaten to destroy his sanity. Doyle will be in conversation with Gavin Clarke. \nSpeaker: Roddy Doyle\n\nRoddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958 and grew up in Kilbarrack. After graduating from University College Dublin he spent several years as an English and geography teacher before becoming a full-time writer. His novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha won the Booker Prize in 1993. Several of his novels\, including The Commitments and The Snapper have been successfully adapted into films. Doyle’s work is set primarily in Ireland\, especially working-class Dublin. Inspired by David Eggers’ 826 Valencia\, he co-founded the children’s writing charity Fighting Words. Doyle has also written many novels for children\, including the Rover Adventures series. He has also written many short stories\, several of which have been published in The New Yorker. In 2016\, he translated Mozart’s Don Giovanni for the Opera Theatre Company. The stage version of The Commitments\, adapted by Doyle\, opened in London’s Palace Theatre in 2013 and toured Britain and Ireland until May 2016. \nSpread the word:
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/roddy-doyle-29-jan/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:book signing,history,interview,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/doyle-slider.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20180116T140000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20180116T170000
DTSTAMP:20171212T214305Z
CREATED:20171212T211710Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171212T214305Z
UID:9929-1516111200-1516122000@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:National Theatre Archive screening -16 Jan
DESCRIPTION:The ILS has arranged for a group visit on 16 January to the National Theatre Archive for a screening of the recording of the NT production of Conor McPherson’s The Veil from 2011. The screening room at the Archive has only limited capacity so we must limit this event to members-only\, there are 25 places. If there is sufficient demand we will arrange a further screening. Please contact the Honorary Secretary if you wish to reserve a place: irishlitsoc@gmail.com.  \nMay 1822\, rural Ireland. The defrocked Reverend Berkeley arrives at the crumbling former glory of Mount Prospect House to accompany seventeen-year-old Hannah to England. She is to be married off to a Marquis in order to resolve the debts of her mother’s estate. However\, compelled by the strange voices that haunt his beautiful young charge and a fascination with the psychic current that pervades the house\, Berkeley proposes a séance\, the consequences of which are catastrophic. \nThe Veil weaves Ireland’s troubled colonial history into a transfixing story about the search for love\, the transcendental and the circularity of time. The play is directed by McPherson. The cast includes Jim Norton\, who won both Tony and Olivier awards for his performance in McPherson’s The Seafarer. This is a three-camera recording made for research purposes\, it does not therefore offer the cinematic experience of an NT Live broadcast.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/national-theatre-archive-visit-16-jan/
LOCATION:National Theatre Studio\, 83-101 The Cut\, Lambeth\, London\, SE1 8LL\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:archive,Members only-event,research,theatre
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/the-veil-screening.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20171127T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20171127T210000
DTSTAMP:20171123T220522Z
CREATED:20170812T121644Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171123T220522Z
UID:9350-1511811000-1511816400@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Eimear McBride - 27 Nov
DESCRIPTION:Eimear McBride joins the Irish Literary Society to discuss and read from her work. Described by the Times Literary Supplement as ‘a writer of remarkable power and originality\,’ McBride’s debut A Girl is a Half-formed Thing received the inaugural Goldsmiths Prize\, the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year. Her short stories have appeared in Dubliners 100\, The Long Gaze Back and have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She writes and reviews for the The Guardian\, New Statesman and the TLS.\n“Blazingly daring…[McBride’s] prose is a visceral throb\, and the sentences run meanings together to produce a kind of compression in which words\, freed from the tedious march of sequence\, seem to want to merge with one another\, as paint and musical notes can. The results are thrilling\, and also thrillingly efficient. The language plunges us into the centre of experiences that are often raw\, unpleasant\, frightening\, but also vital.”James Wood\, The New Yorker\nHer most recent novel\, The Lesser Bohemians\, follows a young Irish woman who arrives in London from Ireland in the 1990s\, to study drama and falls passionately\, dangerously in love with an older actor. The older man has a disturbing past for which the young girl is unprepared and her troubled past becomes apparent. A bold and subversive story about sexual passion\, The Lesser Bohemians is also a celebration of love\, and how it can both destroy and create. McBride will be in conversation with Shevaun Wilder.  \nSpeaker: Eimear McBride\n \nEimear McBride was born in 1976 in Liverpool to Northern Irish parents. Aged two she and her family returned to Ireland and her childhood was mostly spent in Tubbercurry\, Co. Sligo. At fourteen they moved again to Castlebar\, Co Mayo. In 1994\, at seventeen\, she went to London and spent the next three years studying acting at Drama Centre. Much of her twenties were spent temping and travelling. At twenty-seven she wrote A Girl is a Half-formed Thing. It won the 2013 Goldsmiths Prize\, was shortlisted for the 2014 Folio Prize and won the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction 2014. She moved to Cork in 2006\, and Norwich in 2011\, where she currently lives with her husband and daughter.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/eimear-mcbride-27-nov/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:exile,interview,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Eimear-McBride-slider.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20171114T180000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20171114T200000
DTSTAMP:20171023T173343Z
CREATED:20171023T130146Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171023T173343Z
UID:9630-1510682400-1510689600@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Tara Bergin - 14 Nov
DESCRIPTION:The Irish Literary Society is delighted to invite its members to the Embassy of Ireland for an evening with one of Ireland’s most fascinating poets. As there are only limited seats available for this event interested members should apply for tickets via the form below.  \nTara Bergin’s debut collection\, This is Yarrow\, won the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize and she was named a Next Generation Poet by the Poetry Book Society in 2014.\nBergin’s Gothic imagination – precise\, claustrophobic\, yet full of vertiginous perspectives – makes her a perfect guide to these frightened\, frightening times.Paul Batchelor\, The Spectator \nShe will be reading poems from her new collection The Tragic Death of Eleanor Marx\, exploring themes of intense love and grief with a dark humour. Bergin’s engagement with the world of myth and folklore was vividly present in This is Yarrow and now in her latest dark fairytale-like images fill the collection as it reflects on the life and death of Eleanor – Karl Marx’s youngest daughter. Eleanor was a member of the Socialist Democratic Federation and translated Flaubert’s Madame Bovary\, before taking her own life in the same way as Emma Bovary. The event will be hosted by the Irish Ambassador Adrian O’Neill.\n\n\n  \n\n\n\nYour Name (required)\n \n\n \nYour Email (required)\n \n\n \nSubject\n \n\n \nYour Message\n \n\n \n\n Δ\n \n\n\n \n\nSpeaker: Tara Bergin\n\nTara Bergin was born in Dublin and moved to the UK in 2002 to undertake academic research. This culminated in a PhD on Ted Hughes’s translations of the post-war Hungarian poet János Pilinszky which she completed at Newcastle University\, where she is now a part-time lecturer in Creative Writing (Poetry). She began publishing the poems that feature in her debut collection\, This is Yarrow (Carcanet\, 2013)\, in 2003. It won the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize and the 2014 Shine/Strong Award. Bergin was named a Next Generation Poet by the Poetry Book Society in 2014.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/tara-bergin/
LOCATION:The Embassy of Ireland\, 17 Grosvenor Pl\, London \, London\, SW1X 7HR
CATEGORIES:book signing,folklore,history,interview,Members only-event,poetry,politics,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/tara_bergin.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20171030T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20171030T203000
DTSTAMP:20180117T005153Z
CREATED:20170903T131534Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180117T005153Z
UID:9456-1509391800-1509395400@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Writing Gay Irish Lives - 30 Oct
DESCRIPTION:In light of social and legal changes in Ireland over recent years the ILS is drawing together Irish writers to consider the representation of queer people in Irish literature. Our panel will be reflecting on London as a place of escape\, queer representation in Irish writing\, homosexuality in the discourse of what constitutes Irishness\, and the integration of queer characters and narratives into the wider culture. Here in London the 50-year anniversary since it stopped being illegal for two men (criminal law\, until Section 28\, targeted only men) to be in a relationship in England and Wales has been widely celebrated\, the law changed in Scotland and Northern Ireland later – not until 1993 was same-sex sexual activity decriminalised in Ireland. Historically many Irish queer people felt compelled to emigrate in search of a more supportive social climate\, the attraction of London was obvious as a metropolitan centre associated with tolerance of sexual diversity and established queer communities. Yet now Ireland now has gay marriage (passed by 62% vote share)\, a young\, openly gay taoiseach and progressive trans recognition legislation – the influence of Catholic dogma has clearly waned. The rich and varied work of our panel will be discussed in the context of these changes and each writer will read from their work.  \nSpeakers:\n\nDr Michael G Cronin\nMichael G Cronin is a Lecturer in English\, specialising in twentieth-century and contemporary Irish literature and in sexuality studies. He received his MA from the University of Sussex\, having studied on the renowned Sexual Dissidence and Cultural Change programme. He subsequently completed a doctorate on the twentieth-century Irish Catholic bildungsroman at Maynooth University\, where he was an IRCHSS Government of Ireland scholar.  Along with Impure Thoughts\, he has published essays on twentieth-century and contemporary Irish fiction\, and on contemporary Irish sexual politics.  He was Guest Editor of a special issue of Irish Review (Irish Review 46\, Autumn 2013) on Irish Studies in the wake of the 2008 crash. He is currently working on a project provisionally entitled ‘Revolutionary Bodies: homoeroticism and the political imagination in Irish writing’.  \n\nMary Dorcey – UNFORTUNATELY MARY WILL NOT NOW BE ABLE TO APPEAR AT THIS EVENT\, 30 OCT\nThe critically acclaimed poet\, short story writer and novelist\, Mary Dorcey was born in County Dublin\, Ireland. She is a member by peer election of ‘Aosdana’ the Irish Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1990 she won the Rooney Prize for Literature for her short story collection: ‘A Noise from the Woodshed.’ Her bestselling novel Biography of Desire (Poolbeg) was published in September of 1997 to critical acclaim and reprinted three times. She was writer in residence at Trinity College for the Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies for ten years where she gives seminars in contemporary English literature and taught a creative writing course. She also taught for four years at University College Dublin. Dorcey’s most recent collection is Perhaps the Heart is Constant after All. (Salmon Poetry. October 2012) \n\nBarry McCrea\nThe Chair of our panel is Barry McCrea\, a novelist and scholar of modern European\, Latin American\, and Irish literature. He most recent book is Languages of the Night: Minor Languages and the Literary Imagination in Twentieth-Century Ireland and Europe (Yale University Press\, 2015)\, which won the American Comparative Literature Association’s René Wellek prize for the best book of 2016. He is the author of The First Verse\, a novel\, winner of a number of awards including the 2006 Ferro-Grumley prize for fiction and a Barnes and Noble “Discover” prize\, and of In the Company of Strangers: Narrative and Family in Dickens\, Conan Doyle\, Joyce and Proust (Columbia University Press\, 2011)\, which won the Yale Heyman Prize for scholarship in the humanities.Professor McCrea holds has a BA in Romance languages from Trinity College Dublin\, and a PhD in comparative literature from Princeton. Before joining Notre Dame\, he taught comparative literature at Yale University\, where he was appointed full professor in 2012. Professor McCrea teaches fall semesters in the Rome and Dublin Global Gateways and spring semesters on campus. \n\nJamie O’Neill\nJamie O’Neill was born in Dún Laoghaire in 1962. He left for England at the age of 17 and lived and worked in England for two decades\, he now lives in Galway. His first novel\, Disturbance\, was published in 1989 and followed by Kilbrack in 1990. Thereafter O’Neill struggled to write and on parting company with both his agent and publisher he took the job as a night porter at the Cassell Hospital\, a psychiatric institution in Surrey from 1990 up to 2000. His critically-acclaimed novel\, At Swim\, Two Boys (2001) earned him the highest advance ever paid for an Irish novel and frequent claims that he was the natural successor to James Joyce\, Flann O’Brien and Samuel Beckett. At Swim\, Two Boys was re-issued this year to mark the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales. The novel describes a burgeoning love between two teenage boys\, Jim Mack and Doyler\, childhood friends – “cara macree\, pal o’ my heart” – in the early years of the 20th century in Dublin. They meet again some years later in a flute band as 15-year old Doyler teaches Jim to swim. They make a pact – on Easter Sunday 1916\, they will swim to Muglin’s Rock to claim it for themselves and for Ireland.  \n\nCherry Smyth\nCherry Smyth is a poet\, novelist and art critic. Her first poetry collection When the Lights Go Up (Lagan Press\, 2001) traces her move from Ireland to London and the negotiations of identity required in a new country. One Wanted Thing (Lagan Press\, 2006)\, her second volume\, is less concerned with loss than with a buoyant affirmation of love\, acceptance and the wider issues of the fall-out of events like 9/11 and 7/7: how these changed our world-view. In Test\, Orange (Pindrop Press\, 2012)\, she brings together a range of poetic forms from haiku to longer free-verse poems dealing with things we face in a female body. In 2000–01\, Cherry was writer-in-residence in a women’s prison and published their extraordinary work in A Strong Voice in a Small Space (Cherry Picking Press\, 2002)\, which won the Raymond Williams community-publishing prize in 2003. She has been teaching writing poetry in the Creative Writing Department of the University of Greenwich since 2004. She was appointed a Royal Literary Fellow\, 2014-2016. Her novel Hold Still (Holland Park Press\, 2013) charts the role of Irish woman Jo Hiffernan as muse to both Whistler and Courbet. \nSpread the word:
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/writing-gay-lives/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:book signing,exile,history,interview,novel,poetry,politics,Reading,social history,tradition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/gay-lives_3.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170925T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170925T193000
DTSTAMP:20180117T005253Z
CREATED:20170901T131049Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180117T005253Z
UID:9428-1506367800-1506367800@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Caldwell and Hayden - 25 Sept
DESCRIPTION:June Caldwell and David Hayden visit the ILS to discuss their latest volumes of short stories and the short story form. \nFrom one of Ireland’s most grindingly authentic and radically original talents\, Caldwell’s Room Little Darker explores the clandestine aspects of modern life through jagged\, visceral tales of wanton sex\, broken relationships\, homelessness and futuristic nightmares. \nCaldwell’s modernist style and tendency to switch forms never let the reader rest. Each of her stories announces itself with a bang. The outrageous ideas for the most part have a realistic undertone\, grounding Room Little Darker in a world that is oddly\, awfully\, familiar.Sarah Gilmartin\, The Irish Times \nCaldwell’s modernist style and tendency to switch forms never let the reader rest. Each of her stories announces itself with a bang. The outrageous ideas for the most part have a realistic undertone\, grounding Room Little Darker in a world that is oddly\, awfully\, familiar. An abusive father haunts his daughter and wife from the confines of a nursing home; a couple with an appetite for kink discover their escapades have led them into something unimaginably grim; an addict makes his way around a city centre crackling with menace; an unborn child narrates her own tragic story; a paedophile acquires a sex therapy robot and wonders how they’ll get along. At once hilarious and profoundly moving\, June Caldwell’s stories probe raw sexuality and disturbing psychology\, the love (and hate) of family\, the darkness and light that lives inside us all. \n“It’s an open secret that David Hayden is one of the most interesting short story writers around. Why it’s taken this long for his first collection to be published is beyond me but I\, along with anyone with even the vaguest interest in looking at modernism anew\, will be queuing up for a copy.” Eimear McBride \nThe stories in David Hayden’s Darker With The Lights On are driven ceaselessly\, hypnotically forward by a powerful narrative force\, the stories in this debut collection pull off that rare trick of captivating the reader\, while twisting the form into truly new shapes. Comprising compelling stories made memorable by an imagist’s flair for photographic observation and unsettling\, often startling\, emotional landscapes\, Darker With the Lights On introduces a new and brilliant talent. \nSpeakers:\n\nJune Caldwell\nJune Caldwell worked for many years as a journalist before writing fiction. Her story ‘SOMAT’ was published in the award-winning anthology The Long Gaze Back\, edited by Sinéad Gleeson and was chosen as a ‘favourite’ by The Sunday Times. She is a prizewinner of the Moth International Short Story Prize and has been shortlisted for many others\, including the Calvino Prize in Fabulist Fiction\, the Colm Toíbín International Short Story Award\, the Lorian Hemingway Prize\, and the Sunday Business Post/Penguin Ireland Short Story Prize. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Queen’s University Belfast\, and lives in Dublin.\n\nDavid Hayden\nDavid Hayden’s writing has appeared in gorse\, The Yellow Nib\, The Moth\, The Stinging Fly\, Spolia and The Warwick Review\, and poetry in PN Review. He was shortlisted for the 25th RTÉ Francis MacManus Short Story prize. Born in Dublin\, he has lived in the US and Australia and is now based in Norwich\, UK\, where he is currently working on a novel. \nSpread the word:
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/caldwell-and-hayden-25-sept/
LOCATION:Dr Williams’s Library\, 14 Gordon Square\, Bloomsbury\, London\, WC1H 0AR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:book signing,interview,short story
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/short-story.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170921T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170921T220000
DTSTAMP:20170906T145739Z
CREATED:20170904T174323Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170906T145739Z
UID:9502-1506020400-1506031200@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:The Ferryman - ILS member tickets lottery
DESCRIPTION:The ILS has 20 tickets for excellent seats for the acclaimed Royal Court production of Jez Butterworth’s The Ferryman for a performance on the evening of 21 September to issue free to members. To apply for a ticket you must be a fully paid-up member\, you should complete the form below. The lottery will close on 8 September and the ILS Honorary Secretary will contact those successful on 9 September. Please note that the performance starts at 7pm\, 21 September\, the performance runs for 3 hours including a 15 minute interval. \nThe Ferryman: Northern Ireland\, 1981. The Carney farmhouse is a hive of activity with preparations for the annual harvest. A day of hard work on the land and a traditional night of feasting and celebrations lie ahead. But this year they will be interrupted by a visitor. \n“You can’t bury the past.” \nJez Butterworth‘s previous work at the Royal Court includes The River and the multi-award winning Jerusalem. Director Sam Mendes makes his Royal Court debut. \n\n\n  \n\n\n\nYour Name (required)\n \n\n \nYour Email (required)\n \n\n \nSubject\n \n\n \nYour Message\n \n\n \n\n Δ
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/the-ferryman-member-ticket-lottery/
LOCATION:Gielgud Theatre\, Shaftesbury Ave\, Soho\, London\, W1D 6AR\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Members only-event,non-ILS,theatre
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/TFMprod2017JP_05030-1024x683.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170921T180000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170921T200000
DTSTAMP:20180128T230003Z
CREATED:20170812T103942Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180128T230003Z
UID:9342-1506016800-1506024000@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:William Trevor - 21 Sept
DESCRIPTION:EMBASSY OF IRELAND event – The Embassy of Ireland has kindly reserved a number of tickets for Irish Literary Society members for its celebration of the life and work of William Trevor. Please contact the Hon. Secretary for further details. \nThe Ambassador of Ireland Mr. Adrian O’Neill\, the Trevor family and Viking Books host an evening to celebrate the life and work of William Trevor KBE at the Embassy of Ireland. The evening will feature the Chinese-American author Yiyun Li and the great cellist Steven Isserlis\, both friends and admirers of the late author.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/william-trevor-21-sept/
LOCATION:The Embassy of Ireland\, 17 Grosvenor Pl\, London \, London\, SW1X 7HR
CATEGORIES:biography,interview,Reading,short story,special event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/william-trevor-slider-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170917T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170927T203000
DTSTAMP:20170904T185225Z
CREATED:20170904T184608Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170904T185225Z
UID:9512-1505676600-1506544200@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Constance and Eva\, 17-27 Sept
DESCRIPTION:ILS members will remember Dr Kimberly Campanello from her fascinating talk at the ILS last year on Sheela na gigs and the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam\, County Galway. Campanello has a new play on those radical sisters Constance Markievicz and Eva Gore-Booth. The play runs from 17-27 September at the Bread and Roses Theatre in Clapham. While we’re not arranging a formal ILS outing this time many members will be attending the final night of the run – 27 September\, you can find out more and book here. \nConstance Markievicz and Eva Gore-Booth battled imperialism\, fought for women’s rights\, and sought to redefine gender and sexuality. They were famous – even infamous – during their lifetimes\, but history has largely forgotten them.  \nCan their stories be told\, and what can we learn from them about how to be politically active today? \nConstance and Eva is a multimedia reimagining of the lives of these two sisters\, bringing together archive footage\, found text and performance to tell their story. It is a first time collaboration between the poet Kimberly Campanello (Strange Country\, Hymn to Kali) and director Luke Davies\, and is Urania’s first production.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/constance-and-eva/
LOCATION:The Bread and Roses Theatre\, 68 Clapham Manor Street\, Clapham\, London\, SW4 6DZ\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:non-ILS,theatre
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ce-cut_3.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170712T180000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170712T200000
DTSTAMP:20170701T082240Z
CREATED:20170630T231726Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170701T082240Z
UID:9310-1499882400-1499889600@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:History of Modern Ireland - 12 July
DESCRIPTION:The Ambassador of Ireland Mr. Daniel Mulhall and Mrs. Greta Mulhall invite members of the ILS to the launch of ‘The Cambridge History of Modern Ireland’ Edited by Eugenio F. Biagini and Mary E. Daly at the Embassy of Ireland on 12th July 2017 from 18.00 – 20.00. This event is open to ILS members only and tickets will be allocated by lottery. \nRSVP essential by 5 July: irishlitsoc@gmail.com
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/history-of-modern-ireland-12-july/
LOCATION:The Embassy of Ireland\, 17 Grosvenor Pl\, London \, London\, SW1X 7HR
CATEGORIES:history,interview,Members only-event,special event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/embassy-history.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170703T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170703T203000
DTSTAMP:20170701T000308Z
CREATED:20170507T035046Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170701T000308Z
UID:9144-1499110200-1499113800@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:AGM 2017 - 3 July
DESCRIPTION:ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING\, 3 July 2017\, 7.30pm \nAGENDA\n1. Chairman’s Opening Remarks\n2. Apologies\n3. Minutes from 2016 AGM\n4. Matters Arising\n5. Honorary Secretary’s Report\n6. Chairman’s Report\n7. Treasurer’s Report\n8. Membership Secretary’s Report\n9. Constitutional changes\n10. Election of the Officers & Committee for the ILS Season 2016-17 and any other voting.\n11. Appointment of Honorary Auditors\n12. Plans for 2017-18\n13. AOB \nMembers are invited to propose candidates for the election of Officers and Committee members for the ILS Season 2017-18. All candidates must be proposed and seconded by members of the ILS and the candidate must sign the proposal forms. Forms must be returned to the Honorary Secretary by 15 June (download the form below for more details). \nThe present Officers and Committee members are eligible for re-election. The Officers of the Society are the President\, one or two Vice-Presidents\, the Chairman\, Deputy Chairman\, one or two Honorary Secretaries\, the Honorary Treasurer and the Honorary Membership Secretary. As directed by our Rules the Committee shall consist of the Officers and up to 6 other members\, all of whom to be elected annually\, except in the cases of the President and Vice Presidents who shall be invited to serve by the Committee. Three further members may be co-opted by the Committee during the course of a year. \n\n[download-attachment id=”9165″ title=”Election nomination form 2017″]\n[download-attachment id=”9174″ title=”AGM-ILS_03072017″]
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/agm-2017/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Members only-event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/agm.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170626T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170626T210000
DTSTAMP:20171123T225429Z
CREATED:20170418T182200Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171123T225429Z
UID:9088-1498505400-1498510800@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Eavan Boland - 26 June 2017
DESCRIPTION:Widely considered to be one of Ireland’s most important contemporary poets\, Eavan Boland is currently a Professor of Humanities and Director of the Creative Writing Programme at Stanford University\, where she has taught since 1996. In 2015 a New Collected Poems was published\, and Eavan Boland: Inside History\, a book celebrating her long and distinguished career\, was recently published by Arlen House\, its editor will join in conversation with Boland. In January 2017 Boland was appointed editor of Poetry Ireland Review.\nPoetry has been an integral part of Eavan Boland’s life since she was a young girl. In college she wrote her first publication\, 23 Poems. She has gone on to publish nearly 20 books of poetry\, winning awards and accolades from readers and critics alike. Boland\, a self-described “woman poet\,” has always had trouble reconciling those two words. “It was like there was a magnetic opposition between the two concepts\,” she said. “The woman coming from the collective sense of nurture in Ireland\, and the poet coming from the much more individualist\, creative realm.” Mary Robinson quoted Eavan Boland’s poetry during her inaugural speech as President of Ireland in Dublin Castle on 3 December 1990\, and on 15 March 2016 President Obama quoted lines from her poem “On a Thirtieth Anniversary” (from Against Love Poetry) in his remarks at a reception in the White House to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. \nBoland’s is a fascinating career which develops from her early attachment to Yeats\, her growing unease with the absence of women’s writing\, her encounter with pioneering American poets like Sylvia Plath\, Elizabeth Bishop\, and Adrienne Rich\, and her lucid\, critical engagement through poetry and prose with Ireland’s poetic tradition. \nThis event was formerly advertised as the ILS Annual Dinner\, the dinner part of the evening has now been cancelled. \nGuest of Honour: Eavan Boland\n \nBoland\, the youngest of five children\, was born in Dublin in 1944. Her father was a diplomat\, her mother\, Frances Kelly\, an artist. The family moved to London when Boland was six and she went to school there until 1956. Her poem An Irish Childhood in England: 1951 recalls her sense of otherness at this early age: \n…the teacher in the London convent who\,\nwhen I produced “I amn’t” in the classroom\nturned and said — “You’re not in Ireland now.” \nDuring her father’s next posting\, from 1956 until 1960\, the family lived in New York. Boland returned to Dublin and to boarding school at the Convent of the Holy Child in Killiney when she was fifteen. At Trinity College she studied Latin and English and graduated with a first-class honours degree in 1966. She lectured in Trinity 1967-1968 and then resigned to devote her time to writing. She wrote poems as a child and had published poems in the Irish Times while still an undergraduate. She published her first collection\, New Territory\, in 1967\, when she was twenty-two. During the 1970s she gave writing workshops throughout Ireland and in 1980 she co-founded Arlen House\, an Irish feminist press. \nFor Boland\, what she calls ‘the placelessness of her childhood’ and ‘her emphatic sense of living in a suburb in her own home’ were important influences on her work. In 1969\, in her mid-twenties\, she married the novelist Kevin Casey. They moved to a house in the Dublin suburbs in the early 1970s and have two daughters. A grandchild was born in 2014. She has written of motherhood and suburban life and according to Declan Kiberd ‘She is one of the very few Irish poets to describe with any fidelity the lives now lived by half a million people in the suburbs of Dublin.’ \nSince 1996\, Boland spends the academic year at Stanford College\, Palo Alto\, California\, where she is a Professor of Humanities and Director of the Creative Writing Programme\, but she calls Dundrum home. Speaking in 1988\, Boland said of herself: ‘I see myself as an Irish poet\, I think it’s important that Irish poets have a discourse with the idea of Irishness\, and I think it’s probably very important that an Irish woman poet doesn’t shirk that discourse because there have been gaps\, vacancies or silences in literature’.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/annual-dinner-eavan-boland-26-june-2017/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:America,art,biography,book signing,exile,history,interview,poetry,politics,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/eavan-boland3-slider.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170522T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170522T203000
DTSTAMP:20171123T230150Z
CREATED:20170228T211301Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171123T230150Z
UID:9033-1495481400-1495485000@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Donal Ryan - 22 May
DESCRIPTION:The novelist Donal Ryan joins Dorothy Allen to discuss his latest novel\, All We Shall Know. Ryan’s award-winning debut\, The Spinning Heart\, was published to great acclaim in 2012: it won the Guardian First Book Award\, the European Union Prize for Literature\, and Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. The Thing About December and his short story collection A Slanting of the Sun followed soon after. All We Shall Know is a tragic and vivid tale which confirms Ryan as an acute chronicler of the disaffection at the heart of present-day Ireland. \nAll We Shall Know tells the story of Melody Shee. At 33 years-old\, she finds herself pregnant with the child of a 17 year-old Traveller boy\, Martin Toppy\, and not by her husband Pat. Melody was teaching Martin to read\, but now he’s gone\, and Pat leaves too\, full of rage. She’s trying to stay in the moment\, but the future is looming\, while the past won’t let her go. It’s a good thing that she meets Mary Crothery when she does. Mary is a bold young Traveller woman\, and she knows more about Melody than she lets on. She might just save Melody’s life.  \nFollowing the nine months of her pregnancy\, All We Shall Know unfolds with emotional immediacy in Melody’s fierce\, funny\, and unforgettable voice\, as she contends with her choices\, past and present. Without disclosing the details of this final scene\, it does not seem extravagant to claim it is worthy of Greek drama. That the tragedies of our own age happen in suburban semis\, or on Travellers’ sites\, does not make them any less cathartic – and Ryan’s choice of narrator\, a character both deeply flawed and painfully guilty\, shows him working in the great tradition of tragic fiction\, his lonely adulteress coming to grief in the same shadowy spaces as Emma Bovary or Anna Karenina.The Guardian \n‘Martin Toppy is the son of a famous Traveller and the father of my unborn child. He’s seventeen\, I’m thirty-three. I was his teacher. I’d have killed myself by now if I was brave enough. I don’t think it would hurt the baby. His little heart would stop with mine. He wouldn’t feel himself leaving one world of darkness for another\, his spirit untangling itself from me.’  \nSpeaker:\n\nDonal Ryan is from Nenagh in County Tipperary. His first two novels\, The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December\, and his short story collection A Slanting of the Sun\, have all been published to major acclaim. The Spinning Heart won the Guardian First Book Award\, the EU Prize for Literature (Ireland)\, and Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards; it was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize. The Thing About December was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year and Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards\, and the title story of A Slanting of the Sun won the writing.ie Short Story of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. Donal holds a Writing Fellowship at the University of Limerick. He lives with his wife Anne Marie and their two children just outside Limerick City.\nSpread the word:
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/donal-ryan-22-may/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:book signing,interview,novel,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ryan2_slider.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170424T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170424T210000
DTSTAMP:20171123T230245Z
CREATED:20170109T164338Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171123T230245Z
UID:8864-1493062200-1493067600@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Carlo Gébler - 24 April
DESCRIPTION:Author\, playwright\, teacher and filmmaker Dr. Carlo Gébler visits the ILS to read from his work and reflect on his career\, changes in attitudes to literature in his lifetime and his recent short story collection and memoirs. His most recent publications are The Projectionist\, the story of Ernest Gébler\, a life of his father that mixes memoir and biography\, the short story collection\, The Wing Orderly’s Tales\, and Confessions of a Catastrophist (2015).  \nFor almost 25 years\, Gebler worked as a teacher and writer-in-residence in the Maze and Maghaberry Prisons. In his 2016 book of short stories based on that experience\, The Wing Orderly’s Tales\, he gives a fascinating insight into the inmates he worked with and why some people end up committing crimes. Previous work considering imprisonment and its consequences includes A Good Day For A Dog (2008) and My father’s Watch (2009) – the latter written with Patrick Maguire is an intensely moving memoir of his co-author\, one of the ‘Maguire Seven’\, wrongly imprisoned as a teenager for making bombs for the IRA. Gébler has already proved himself a master at transmuting historical facts into compelling fiction…And in this new novel he’s just as adroit at creating psychological and dramatic suspense out of known facts … a book so rich in characterisation\, so expertly paced and so well written that it works equally well as absorbing social history and page-turning thriller.Irish Independent \nAs a catastrophist who never doubted from the moment he started that conditions in what he calls the Kingdom of Letters would only get worse\, Carlo Gébler is not in the least surprised by how things have turned out. It was always going to go downhill and in his Confessions of a Catastrophist (2015) he described that process but in his own personal\, idiosyncratic and caustic way. The book is an intriguing mixture of pungent\, fierce and striking memoir with pithy mordant notes on the literary trade\, on the books he’s written and why he wrote them\, and on the difficult business of negotiating a way through the thickets and trying to make a living. Also published in 2015 was his part biography/part memoir about his relationship with his father Ernest Gébler: The Projectionist: The Story of Ernest Gébler. He tells the enthralling story of his father’s life\, covering his strange and alienated childhood\, his disastrous family relationships\, his marriage to writer Edna O’Brien\, his staunch socialism and uncompromising disciplinary attitude\, and his final heartbreaking struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.  \nSpeaker:\n\nCarlo Gébler was born Dublin in 1954\, the eldest son of writer parents\, Ernest Gébler and Edna O’Brien. He was educated at Bedales School\, the University of York\, where he studied English\, and the National Film & Television School. He has a PhD from Queen’s University\, Belfast. He started his career in television and made a number of documentary films for Channel 4 and others. Gébler is also the author of novels\, short stories and radio dramas. As well as his film-making and literary work\, Gébler has also worked as a teacher and academic. In the early nineties he was the creative writing tutor at the Maze prison and since 1997 he has been the writer-in-residence in HMP Maghaberry. Gébler has taught at Queen’s University Belfast and has contributed to the creative writing programme at the Oscar Wilde Centre\, Trinity College Dublin\, for many years and currently teaches the ‘Writing for a Living’ course there. He was elected  a member of the Aosdána in 1990. He is a past chairman of the Irish Writers’ Centre. He is married with five children and currently resides outside Enniskillen\, Co Fermanagh\, Northern Ireland.\nSpread the word:
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/carlo-gebler-24-april/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:biography,book signing,interview,novel,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Carlo.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170327T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170327T210000
DTSTAMP:20171123T230326Z
CREATED:20170116T132920Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171123T230326Z
UID:8932-1490643000-1490648400@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Mícheál Mac Craith - 27 March
DESCRIPTION:Professor Mícheál Mac Craith will deliver the 2017 joint Irish Texts Society / Irish Literary Society Noel O’Connell Lecture on the subject of ‘Robin Flower and Irish Love Poetry’. \nPresented in association with the Irish Texts Society:\n\n\nSpeaker:\n\nMícheál Mac Craith\nMícheál Mac Craith is a Franciscan priest who was Professor of Modern Irish at the National University of Ireland\, Galway from 1997 until his retirement in August 2011. He studied in Galway\, Rome and Louvain. His books are Lorg na hIasachta ar na Dánta Grá (1989)\, a study of the foreign influences on Gaelic courtly love poetry\, and Ón Oileán Rúin go Rún an Oileáin (1993)\, a study of the poetry of Máirtín Ó Direáin. He is interested in the Renaissance\, Counter-Reformation literature\, Jacobitism\, Ossianism and contemporary Gaelic literature\, and has published extensively in these areas. In 1997 he was awarded a Visiting Fellowship in the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh. In 2003 he was Visiting Fellow at St Edmund’s College\, Cambridge\, and Associate Research Fellow at the Department of Anglo-Saxon\, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge. In 2008 the Irish Research Council in the Humanities and Social Sciences awarded him a Senior Research Fellowship to investigate the period spent by the exiled earls\, O’Neill and O’Donnell\, in Rome. He is now Guardian at Collegio San Isidoro in Rome.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/micheal-mac-craith-27-march/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:history,Irish language,lecture
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ils-its_20172.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170227T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170227T210000
DTSTAMP:20171123T230615Z
CREATED:20170109T151132Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171123T230615Z
UID:8846-1488223800-1488229200@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin - 27 Feb
DESCRIPTION:Renowned poet Ní Chuilleanáin is the current Ireland Professor of Poetry\, she was a founding member and editor of the literary journal Cyphers and is one of the major Irish poets of her generation. This is her first visit to the Irish Literary Society and she will be reading from her own work. Ní Chuilleanáin is the Vermeer of contemporary poetry. Her luminous interiors achieve great visual beauty\, but should not be mistaken for exercises in escapism. They are sites where history and the individual brush against each other\, force fields of action and radiant understanding.\nAingeal Clare\, The Guardian \nShe has won numerous awards and in addition to her poetic output has been an innovative and important publisher of other Irish writers and has translated poetry from Irish (most recently Máire Mhac an tSaoi)\, Italian (Maria Attanasio\, Antonella Anedda and several others) and from the Romanian poetry of Ileana Mӑlӑncioiu The Legend of the Walled-Up Wife (2012). With Medbh McGuckian\, Ní Chuilleanáin also co-translated the poems of Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill in The Water Horse (2001). \nSpeaker:\n\nEiléan Ní Chuilleanáin\nBorn 1942 in Cork\, she is an Emeritus Fellow of Trinity College\, Dublin\, where she has taught\, researched and written on Renaissance literature and translation\, since 1966; with her husband Macdara Woods\, the late Leland Bardwell and the late Pearse Hutchinson\, she is a founder and (since 1975) co-editor of the Irish poetry journal Cyphers. Her seventh collection of poetry\, The Sun-Fish\, was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and won the Griffin International Prize for poetry in 2010; The Boys of Bluehill was published in 2015 by Gallery Press\, and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize\, the Irish Times Poetry Now Award and the Pigott Prize at the Listowel Writers’ Week.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/eilean-ni-chuilleanain-27-feb/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:history,Irish language,lecture,poetry
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Eilean_slider-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170219T143000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170219T170000
DTSTAMP:20171123T230918Z
CREATED:20170215T195511Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171123T230918Z
UID:9013-1487514600-1487523600@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Cahal Dallat walk - 19 Feb
DESCRIPTION:On Sunday afternoon 19 February the ILS will be making an outing to Bedford Park for a walk led by the poet Cahal Dallat – members will remember Cahal and his accordion from our London Irish Poetic Tradition event back in November 2016. This is a members-only event which takes in the home of the Yeats family and considers\, through visits to the houses of artists\, publishers\, painters\, composers and politicians\, how Bedford Park in the late 19th century allowed Irish culture in London to flourish and grow\, and return something to the society left behind.  \nIts a fascinating experience which provides an insight into how the utopian community at Bedford Park made it possible for artists\, actors\, illustrators\, engravers\, painters\, playwrights and poets to live inexpensively but within easy reach of London’s theatres\, press\, publishers and political centres. The walk is an essential antidote to the ‘lone genius’ illusion as it places Irish artists alongside William Morris and other great figures and shows how their exchanges helped to develop the late-19c progressive agenda that was to become the blueprint for 20th thought: anti-imperialist\, in favour of Irish freedom and Indian independence\, vegetarian\, pacifist\, interested in world religions and cultures\, alternative\, feminist…Happy to play the romantic\, in the end he inhabits a world which is exploratory and unsettledFortnight\, on Cahal's poetry \nThe walk is not for the faint-hearted as we will be out for 2hrs. So\, you’ll need robust shoes\, stamina and probably a brolly. We’ll be finishing up outside a pub and plan to have some space so that we can collapse after and read some relevant texts with a drink. The ILS is subsidising the walk and Cahal is generously donating the fee to the Bedford Park fund for a statue of Yeats. See Cahal’s project here: http://www.cahaldallat.com/yeats \n\n\nCahal Dallat\nSince moving to London 40 years ago the Ballycastle native has been a computer scientist and a critic\, a musician and a broadcaster. Dallat’s literary horizons broadened when he joined a nascent poetry workshop run by Robert Greacon\, an esteemed Dublin writer who had relocated to London. His poetry appears in a range of literary magazines & anthologies\, in Trio 7 (with John Kelly & Sean McWilliams\, Blackstaff Press\, 1992)\, Morning Star (Lagan Press\, 1998) and in The Year of Not Dancing (Blackstaff Press\, 2009).
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/cahal-dallat-walk/
LOCATION:Turnham Green\, Turnham Green Terrace\, Chiswick\, London\, UK\, W4 1QN\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Members only-event,visit,walk
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Cahal_walk-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20170130T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20170130T203000
DTSTAMP:20171123T230959Z
CREATED:20161208T132154Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171123T230959Z
UID:8719-1485804600-1485808200@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Sebastian Barry - 30 Jan
DESCRIPTION:The great Irish writer Sebastian Barry visits the ILS on 30 January to join in conversation with Prof Roy Foster about his new novel Days Without End. \nThe novel continues Barry’s saga of two Irish families\, the Dunnes and the McNultys\, which has spanned several novels and multiple time frames and locations. The Guardian has called the sequence ‘one of the most compelling\, bravura and heart-wrenching fictional projects of recent memory.’A beautiful\, savage\, tender\, searing work of art. Sentence after perfect sentence it grips and does not let go.Donal Ryan \n‘Time was not something then we thought of as an item that possessed an ending\,\nbut something that would go on for ever\, all rested and stopped in that moment.\nHard to say what I mean by that. You look back at all the endless years when you\nnever had that thought. I am doing that now as I write these words in Tennessee. I\nam thinking of the days without end of my life. And it is not like that now…’ \nAfter signing up for the US army in the 1850s\, aged barely seventeen\, Thomas\nMcNulty and his brother-in-arms\, John Cole\, go on to fight in the Indian wars and\,\nultimately\, the Civil War. Having fled terrible hardships themselves\, they find these days to be vivid and filled with wonder\, despite the horrors they both witness and are complicit in. Their lives are further enriched and endangered when a young Indian girl crosses their path\, and the possibility of lasting happiness emerges\, if only they can survive.A violent\, superbly lyrical western offering a sweeping vision of America in the making [and] the most fascinating line-by-line first person narration I’ve come across in years.Kazuo Ishiguro \nMoving from the plains of the West to Tennessee\, Sebastian Barry’s latest work is a masterpiece of atmosphere and language. Both an intensely poignant story of two men and the lives they are dealt\, and a fresh look at some of the most fateful years in America’s past\, Days Without End is a novel never to be forgotten. \nSpeakers:\n\nSebastian Barry\nSebastian Barry was born in Dublin in 1955. His novels and plays have won the Costa Book of the Year award\, the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Prize\, the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year\, the Independent Booksellers Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He also had two consecutive novels\, A Long Long Way (2005) and the top ten bestseller The Secret Scripture (2008)\, shortlisted for the MAN Booker Prize. He lives in Wicklow.\n\n\nProf Roy Foster\nRoy Foster recently retired as Carroll Professor of Irish history at Oxford\, he is a fellow of Hertford College. He has written widely on Irish history\, society and politics in the modern period\, as well as on Victorian high politics and culture. Foster produced a widely acclaimed biography of William Butler Yeats which was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In Words Alone: Yeats and his inheritances (2011)\, he presents a re-reading of Irish literary history throughout the nineteenth century and places Yeats and his inspirations in apposition to a much wider range of literary and political precursors than is usually the case. His most recent book is Vivid Faces: the revolutionary generation in Ireland 1890-1914.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/sebastian-barry-30-jan/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:America,book signing,history,interview,novel,Reading
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/sebastian-barry-copy.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20161219T190000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20161219T210000
DTSTAMP:20171123T231310Z
CREATED:20161130T001857Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171123T231310Z
UID:8679-1482174000-1482181200@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:Christmas by Candlelight
DESCRIPTION:Join our friends Irish Heritage for a seasonal selection of music and popular Christmas Carols together with readings from the ILS President Bernard O’Donoghue\, ILS Vice President Roy Foster\, Joe Lynam (BBC Business Correspondent) and BBC3 radio presenter Petroc Trelawny. \nSinead O’Kelly\, soprano from the London Oratory School Choir\, joins with the organist Jonathan Beatty to provide the music.  \nPresented in association with the Irish Literary Society. \nTickets: Individual £20\, Family £45 (incl wine reception and programme)\nFrom: Kathy O’Regan: Tel 020 7226 4578\,\nEmail: kathy.oregan@hotmail.co.uk\nOn-line: www.irishheritage.co.uk click on DONATE (no booking fee) \n\n\nProf Roy Foster\nRoy Foster recently retired as Carroll Professor of Irish history at Oxford\, he is a fellow of Hertford College. He has written widely on Irish history\, society and politics in the modern period\, as well as on Victorian high politics and culture. Foster produced a widely acclaimed biography of William Butler Yeats which was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In Words Alone: Yeats and his inheritances (2011)\, he presents a re-reading of Irish literary history throughout the nineteenth century and places Yeats and his inspirations in apposition to a much wider range of literary and political precursors than is usually the case. His most recent book is Vivid Faces: the revolutionary generation in Ireland 1890-1914.\n\n\nJoe Lynam\nJoe Lynam is an Irish journalist working for the BBC in the United Kingdom.Lynam is a business correspondent. He also presents sometimes on the BBC’s flagship Today Programme – covering for Simon Jack. Between 2011 and 2013\, he was the business correspondent with BBC’s Newsnight.\n\n\nProf Bernard O’Donoghue\nBernard O’Donoghue is a Professor and Emeritus Fellow in English at Wadham College\, Oxford. He is a poet and literary critic\, and author of Seamus Heaney and the Language of Poetry (1995) – he succeeded Heaney as President of the ILS. His most recent poetry collection is The Seasons of Cullen Church (2016)\, which has been shortlisted for the T S Elliot award. Previous volumes include Farmer’s Cross (2011)\, Gunpowder (1995)\, Here Nor There (1999); Outliving (2003)\, Selected Poems in 2008. O’Donoghue was winner of the 1995 Whitbread Poetry Award and Cholmondeley Award in 2009.\n\n\nSinéad O’Kelly\nSinéad O’Kelly is a soprano from Belfast. She trained at the Royal College of Music in London for six years\, where she graduated in 2014 (First Class Honours Degree) and again in 2016 (Masters with Distinction). She continues to study with Tim Evans-Jones and Caroline Dowdle.\n\n\nPetroc Trelawny\nPetroc regularly presents the classical magazine programme Music Matters\, Radio 3’s Breakfast and concerts in Radio 3 Live in Concert. Petroc joined Radio 3 in 1998. He currently presents Breakfast and was previously co-host of In Tune\, the station’s drive-time arts magazine.
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/christmas-by-candlelight/
LOCATION:St George Hanover Square\,  The Vestry\, 2A Mill Street\, London\, UK\, W1S 1FX\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Collaboration,music,special event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/christmas-by-candelight.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20161128T193000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20161128T213000
DTSTAMP:20171123T231416Z
CREATED:20160921T144943Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171123T231416Z
UID:8188-1480361400-1480368600@irishliterarysociety.org
SUMMARY:London Irish poetic tradition - 28 Nov
DESCRIPTION:  \nThe ILS teams up with RTÉ’s Poetry Programme to reflect on the London-Irish poetic tradition. Presenter Rick O’Shea talks to the ILS President Bernard O’Donoghue\, and Vice President Roy Foster about the work and reception of Irish poets in London and how the city shaped those writers and fed back into Irish culture. A recording of this event is now available on the RTÉ Poetry Programme website.  \n Our overview takes the Revival as starting point and considers the work of Irish poets who have passed through or settled in London such as Yeats\, Tynan\, Clarke\, MacNeice\, Boland and Heaney. Our panel of poets will reflect on the anxiety of influence\, the notion of tradition and the tensions and opportunities for the Irish poet in London. \nSpeakers:\n\nSiobhán Campbell\nSiobhán is a poet\, critic and lecturer. She is the author of five works of poetry and co-editor of the forthcoming book of essays on the work of Eavan Boland. Her poetry has received awards in the National Poetry Competition and the Troubadour International Competition and is the recipient of an Arts Council award and the Templar Poetry Prize. Much of Campbell’s work is expressive of her interest in the place of the political poem in contemporary poetics – her forthcoming volume Heat Signature (March\, 2017) reflects on commemoration and the centenary of the Dublin Rising while her Cross Talk (2010) explored boundaries and the interwoven nature of family\, local and historical conflicts.\n\nCahal Dallat\nSince moving to London 40 years ago the Ballycastle native has been a computer scientist and a critic\, a musician and a broadcaster. Dallat’s literary horizons broadened when he joined a nascent poetry workshop run by Robert Greacon\, an esteemed Dublin writer who had relocated to London. His poetry appears in a range of literary magazines & anthologies\, in Trio 7 (with John Kelly & Sean McWilliams\, Blackstaff Press\, 1992)\, Morning Star (Lagan Press\, 1998) and in The Year of Not Dancing (Blackstaff Press\, 2009).\n\nMartina Evans\nMartina Evans is a poet\, novelist and teacher. She grew up in County Cork in a country pub\, shop and petrol station and is the youngest of ten children. She is the author of ten books of prose and poetry. She is currently Associate Lecturer in Creative Writing at Birkbeck University\, London and a Lector for the Royal Literary Reading Round 2014-2016. Watch\, a pamphlet was published by Rack Press in January 2016 and The Windows of Graceland\, New & Selected Poems was published by Carcanet in May 2016. Martina will feature in the broadcast but will not be present at the event.\n\nProf Roy Foster\nRoy Foster recently retired as Carroll Professor of Irish history at Oxford\, he is a fellow of Hertford College. He has written widely on Irish history\, society and politics in the modern period\, as well as on Victorian high politics and culture. Foster produced a widely acclaimed biography of William Butler Yeats which was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In Words Alone: Yeats and his inheritances (2011)\, he presents a re-reading of Irish literary history throughout the nineteenth century and places Yeats and his inspirations in apposition to a much wider range of literary and political precursors than is usually the case. His most recent book is Vivid Faces: the revolutionary generation in Ireland 1890-1914.\n\nProf Bernard O’Donoghue\nBernard O’Donoghue is a Professor and Emeritus Fellow in English at Wadham College\, Oxford. He is a poet and literary critic\, and author of Seamus Heaney and the Language of Poetry (1995) – he succeeded Heaney as President of the ILS. His most recent poetry collection is The Seasons of Cullen Church (2016)\, which has been shortlisted for the T S Elliot award. Previous volumes include Farmer’s Cross (2011)\, Gunpowder (1995)\, Here Nor There (1999); Outliving (2003)\, Selected Poems in 2008. O’Donoghue was winner of the 1995 Whitbread Poetry Award and Cholmondeley Award in 2009.\n\nDeclan Ryan\nDeclan Ryan was born in County Mayo\, Ireland and has lived in London since. His pamphlet was published in the Faber New Poets series. He is poetry editor at Ambit and teaches at King’s College London. Declan Ryan’s poem\, ‘From Alun Lewis’ was featured in the Autumn 2012 issue of The Poetry Review. His poems and reviews have also been published in Poetry London\, The Rialto\, and elsewhere. He was also named one of the Faber New Poets in 2014. \nReaders: Donal Cox\, Peter Power-Hynes\, Patricia Leventon\, Michael McClain\, Shevaun Wilder. \nShare this Post
URL:https://irishliterarysociety.org/event/london-irish-poetic-tradition/
LOCATION:The Bloomsbury Hotel\, The Bloomsbury Hotel\, 16-22 Great Russell Street\, London\, WC1B 3NN \, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:interview,lecture,poetry,Reading,special event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://irishliterarysociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/poetic2.jpg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR