The Limerick Writers’ Centre in association with The Department of English Language and Literature in Mary Immaculate College presents the first in a series of public talks on Great Irish Writers. Starting Thursday 6th February 2014 Dr Desmond Swan, Professor of Education in University College Dublin, will introduce the series with a talk on Patrick Kavanagh’s epic poem The Great Hunger called “Apocalypse of Clay - the mens the boys - Patrick Kavanaghs masterpiece The Great Hunger and Irelands Coming of Age. The talk will take place in T118 in Mary Immaculate College and starts at 8.00pm. Free admission. Patrick Kavanagh’s epic poem The Great Hunger, published in 1942, is regarded as his greatest achievement. A dark literary jewel, it has moved from at first being virtually ignored by the Irish public, or seen as referring only to small farmers in County Monaghan, to the unique place it now holds amongst Irish and world literature of the twentieth century In his book Apocalypse of Clay Desmond Swan illuminates Kavanagh’s prophetic insights in his bleak poem, his diagnosis of an emotional malaise at the heart of Irish society itself, which in innocence was disregarded but which would give rise to abuses in Church, society and family that would only come to light two generations later. Over its seventy-one years, The Great Hunger has gained near unanimous critical acclaim, with Seamus Heaney, for instance, calling it ‘a masterpiece’. Translated into Greek and in part into Polish, it has been reviewed in Spain, Canada, Germany, Britain and elsewhere, while Tom McIntyre’s adaptation of the poem for the stage was highly successful in Ireland and abroad. There are three narratives in Apocalypse of Clay, those of the poet, of the poem and of Ireland itself. The book explores this great poem’s pivotal significance in Kavanagh’s own development as person and poet, its immense literary quality, and its remarkable psychological insight. The combination of these elements marks The Great Hunger out as a milestone in Ireland’s slow coming of age. Desmond Swan was Desmond Swan was Emeritus Professor in University College Dublin and Head of Department for twenty-five years, where he established five new postgraduate programmes and travelled extensively as a visiting lecturer. He holds an MA in English and a PhD in Psychology. He was President of the Psychological Society of Ireland, and has published widely in Psychology, Education and English Studies. For further information contact Dominic Taylor at limerickwriterscentre@gmail or Tel 087 2996409 Web limerickwriterscentre The series will continue during 2014 and will focus on Irish writers such as Kavanagh, Beckett, Joyce, Behan, Wilde and Brian O Nolan.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 17:17:10 +0000
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