Conference at Concordia features public events
Montreal, July 27, 2012 - Irish literature and culture will be the focus of a series of public events at Concordia University next week. Between July 30 and August 3, the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures (IASIL) will hold its annual conference in Canada for the first time in its 36 year history.
Organized by Michael Kenneally and Susan Cahill from Concordia’s School of Canadian Irish Studies and Rhona Richman Kenneally from the Department of Design and Computation Arts, this year’s conference is titled Weighing Words: Interdisciplinary Engagements with and within Irish Literatures.
More than 150 scholars from countries including Brazil, Japan, Egypt, South Africa, the United States and Ireland will explore the relationship of literature to visual and material culture, to landscapes and the built environment, and to the methodologies of other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.
Highlights of the public portion of the program include three public readings by:
- Canadian-Irish novelist and poet Jane Urquhart - Monday, July 30 at 6 p.m.
Urquhart was a finalist for the prestigious IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for her novel Away. She won the Governor General’s Award for The Underpainter, the Rooney Prize for The Portable Virgin, and was longlisted for the Booker Prize for The Stone Carvers.
- Author Kevin Barry and poet Leontia Flynn – Tuesday, July 31 at 1:30 p.m.
Barry won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature for his short story collection There are Little Kingdoms. A recent New York Times review praises Barry’s debut novel, City of Bohane, saying, “… the extraordinary first novel by the Irish writer Kevin Barry is full of marvels… marvels of language, invention, surprise.”
Flynn’s first book of poetry, These Days, won the Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Prize. The Whitbread judges described her book as “A breathtakingly accomplished debut”.
- Novelist Anne Enright and author Claire Kilroy – Thursday August 2, 6 p.m.
A former television producer and director, Enright is the winner of the Man Booker Prize for her novel The Gathering. Her writing has appeared in several magazines including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Granta, the London Review of Books, the Dublin Review as well as The Irish Times.
Kilroy’s first novel, All Summer, was the recipient of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. The Times Literary Supplement describes her work as “Strikingly original and very funny.”
These readings will be held at the John Molson School of Business Building, BMO Amphitheatre (1450 Guy St., Room MB 1.210).
Also on the program:
- A Masters Concert of Irish and Québec music - Tuesday, July 31 at 7:30 at the Grey Nuns Chapel (1190 Guy St.)
Performers include Canadian Celtic fiddler Pierre Schryer, Quebec step dancer Martine Billette, and world-renowned musician Gearóid ÓhAllmhuráin, who is also the Johnson Chair in Quebec and Canadian Irish Studies at Concordia.
Tickets for the concert are available HERE
The full program of the five-day conference is HERE.
You’ll find an article on the conference from our online news site HERE.
Authors and conference organizers are available for interviews.
Related Links:
• Concordia’s School of Canadian Irish Studies
• Concordia’s Department of Design and Computation Arts
Source:
Fiona Downey
Media Relations Advisor
Concordia University Media Relations
Phone: 514-848-2424, ext. 2518
Cell: 514-518-3336
Fax: 514-848-3383
Email: fdowney@alcor.concordia.ca
Web: concordia.ca/now/media-relations
Twitter: twitter.com/fiodow
