EVENT: John McGahern International Seminar
DATE: 23-25 July, 2009
VENUE: County Library, Ballinamore, Co.Leitrim
INAUGURAL LECTURE BY: Prof Kevin Whelan of Notre Dame University. 
SPEAKERS:

• Professor Liliane Louvel of the University of Poitiers, France;
• Professor Denis Sampson, Canada;
• Professor Mike Cronin, Boston College;
• Irish writer Kevin Barry.

The third John McGahern International Seminar will commemorate the work and literary achievements of one of Ireland’s best known and internationally respected modern writers. As in previous years, there will be guided visits to John McGahern’s home places in Aughawillan, Ballinamore and Mohill, Co. Leitrim and Cootehall, Co. Roscommon.

As well as appealing to all lovers of McGahern’s own work, the International Seminar will be of interest to:

• literary researchers,
• book clubs,
• readers of contemporary fiction and modern writing,
• national and international students of Irish literature and culture. 

This year’s Seminar will also see the launch of the second volume of The John McGahern Yearbook. The Yearbook will include proceedings of the 2008 Seminar as well as a range of new articles by writers and critics. 

Launching the Seminar, President of NUI Galway, Professor James J. Browne, said:

“Through the John McGahern International Seminar and Summer School, we at NUI Galway are working to broaden access to literary scholarship and to share the riches of the McGahern archive with the widest possible audience. 

”In holding this valuable archive in the West of Ireland, we feel that the University is holding in trust a treasure for the world of literary scholarship; for the Irish nation and most especially for this region which we have served for more than 160 years.

”I wish the 2009 McGahern International Summer School and Seminar every success and I welcome the continued partnership of Leitrim County Council in this culturally important endeavour”.

In addition to the Seminar, NUI Galway has organised the second intensive Summer School on John McGahern’s work and its contexts.  

The Summer School is designed for advanced level students and researchers who are interested in the writings of John McGahern, his life and times in 20thCentury Ireland. The 2008 Summer School was attended by students from Ireland, Slovakia, the United States and England.

Speaking at the launch, Leitrim Arts Officer, Caoimhín Corrigan said:

“Leitrim County Council is delighted to see this project develop in its third year, establishing its own rhythm within Ireland's literary calendar. 

“While retaining its central focus on the work of John McGahern, this year’s engagement with themes of the heroic - from the local, to the universal, and taking account also of the 125th anniversary of the GAA -  is a strong expression of the confidence and breadth of vision that Leitrim County Council and NUI Galway share for this important event.”

The Summer School (25 July – 1 August 2009) is directed by Dr John Kenny, John McGahern Lecturer in Creative Writing at NUI Galway.

Lecturers at the Summer School will include Professor Denis Sampson, author of Outstaring Nature’s Eye: The Fiction of John McGahern; Ms Belinda McKeon of Columbia University, New York; Dr Frank Shovlin of the Institute of Irish Studies, Liverpool; Dr James Whyte, author of History, Myth, and Ritual in the Fiction of John McGahern; Writers Mike McCormack and Brian Leyden.

For further details contact 091-495442 or visit www.nuigalway.ie/iss