Past events:
Readings:
Medbh McGuckian reads from her poetry -- April 2013
Glenn Patterson, "Here's Me Here: Further Reflections of a Lapsed Protestant" -- Glenn Patterson talks about the city of Belfast that has for 25 years been the setting and inspiration for his fiction December, 2014
On 11 December 2014 the Centre for Irish Studies of the Institute of English and American Studies at Debrecen University hosted a reading by renowned Northern Irish novelist Glenn Patterson as part of the second Irish Itinerary sponsored by EFACIS. The event attracted over 50 people and our guest made it absolutely worthwhile for everyone to attend.
Glenn Patterson’s reading demonstrated to the audience not only that he is a brilliant writer, but also that he is a great performer interacting with and thus involving his audience. His informative and highly enjoyable talk progressed through humorous digressions. At times it was also creatively improvised, as he engaged with the background images, the covers of his novels and Belfast landmarks, key motifs in his two most recent novels. The way he spoke about Belfast, its history and its present, was inspiring; the way he allowed the audience glimpses into the writing process as well as his writerly habits and rituals was intriguing; and the way he spoke about his personal and creative interest in Hungary was fascinating for his Hungarian audience. His reading of passages from his novels – Number 5 and The Rest Just Follows – as well as a journalistic piece about food and writing was perfectly paced and brilliantly dramatised.
Deirdre Madden, "Painting with Words: Fiction from Ireland" -- October, 2016
On 25 October 2016 the Centre for Irish Studies in the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Debrecen hosted a reading by renowned Northern Irish novelist Deirdre Madden as part of the EFACIS Irish Itinerary. True to the title of the event Deirdre painted with words vivid, captivating scenes and character portraits for the audience. She read carefully selected, subtly related excerpts from two of her eleven novels to date, One by One in the Darkness (1996) and Molly Fox’s Birthday (2008), the former on our request, as that novel is required reading in an MA course on Northern Irish film and fiction. The rich, lyrical passages Deirdre read out allowed the audience glimpses into two central concerns of her fiction: the dynamic interaction between the past and the present – the diverse roles and effects of remembering – and the complex relationship between art and life.
The students were particularly intrigued by Deirdre talking about the autobiographical dimensions of her fiction and by her comments on the writing process itself and the art of the theatre. They also found her unassuming manner endearing and her “artistic aura” has even inspired one of the students to make a drawing of her. The event was a huge success, with more than 60 people in the audience.
Gearóid MacLochlainn, "Tongues in Translation: A Trilingual Evening of Poetry and Music" -- November 2017
On 8 November 2017 the Centre for Irish Studies in the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Debrecen hosted a reading by Belfast poet-performer Gearóid MacLochlainn as part of the EFACIS Irish Itinerary. Unlike in previous years, the reading was organised in a Jazz club in the city, rather than at the university – in compliance with the “unicity” aspirations of the Itinerary – but like in previous years, it proved to be a huge success with over 60 people in the audience. Apart from the change of venue, this year’s event also departed from previous practice in that our special guest’s reading was conjoined with Irish music by the Debrecen band Luan as well as with a reading by the Debrecen poets Imre Olivér Horváth, György Sebők and Petra Visnyei. The idea to stage the event this way took its cue from crucial aspects of Gearóid’s ars poetica: his emphasis on poetry’s close connections to music and his conception of performance as an integral part of the creative process; both shared by the Debrecen performers.
The polylogue of voices and artistic media worked extremely well. The various elements of the evening came into play and jammed with each other, most perfectly in the trilingual rendition of three of our special guest’s poems focusing on language and translation: Gearóid’s trademark macaronic performance, mixing Irish and English, was complemented by Imre Horváth’s Hungarian translations of the poems delivered by the three Debrecen poets respectively. The audience was also intrigued by the interplay between our special guest’s poetry and the music by Luan, to a great extent orchestrated by his flexibility in selecting what poems to read, as well as by his thoughtful comments on how social, political and cultural developments in Northern Ireland may resonate in a Hungarian context.
Jan Carson, "Of This And Other Worlds: Magic Realism and the Northern Irish Protestant Imagination" -- December, 2018
On 5 December 2018 the Centre for Irish Studies in the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Debrecen hosted a reading by renowned Northern Irish writer Jan Carson as part of the EFACIS Irish Itinerary. To meet the “unicity” aspirations of the Itinerary the reading was organised in Víztorony, a cultural hub in the city, with over 60 people in the audience.
Our guest captivated her audience from the very start by both her manner of reading her short stories and her highly informative and subtly humorous talk around them. Keeping the focus on the importance of magic realism (and the absurd) for her work, she mapped manifold ways in which the Northern Irish socio-political context in general, and politically-inflected Protestant symbolism in particular facilitate and invite this mode of writing. The audience was also fascinated by the way she allowed glimpses into her writing process and how her formative years – growing up during the Troubles in an apolitical Presbyterian community – have impacted her work. It was also highly intriguing for a Hungarian audience to see the concept of home portrayed in Jan’s work not only from the perspective of the Northern Irish diaspora produced by the Troubles, but also from the perspective of Central European characters, representatives of the new diversity within Northern Ireland in the past twenty years. The reading was a huge success, brought to a close by a lively Q&A session.
Film screenings:
- The Secret of Kells (Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey, 2009), April 2013
- What Richard Did(dir. Lenny Abrahamson, 2012), Arpil 2014
- Aisling Gheal (dir. Dónal Ó Céilleachair,2013), April 2014
- Calvary (dir John Michael McDonagh, 2014), November 2015
- Good Vibrations (dir. Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn, 2012), November 2016
- Bobby Sands: 66 Days(dir. Brendan Byrne, 2016), November 2016
