Frank McCourt's life-altering trip to Haiti with Concern Worldwide. "Beyond the powers of description" are not the words you would expect to come out of a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, especially when the words are in regards to poverty and they are coming from the mouth of Angela's Ashes author, Frank McCourt. The man who moved millions with his memoir of an … [Read more...] about To Haiti and Back
2001
Wilde’s Life Under Glass
The beautiful Morgan Library in New York puts the Irish master of wit and self-proclaimed ‘lord of language’ under a glass box this September. “Oscar Wilde: A Life in Six Acts” will display articles of Wilde’s spectacular life. The Morgan gathered photographs, annotated school books, manuscripts, love letters, and personal items from its own collection as well as the British … [Read more...] about Wilde’s Life Under Glass
A Pricey Bundle of Joyce
Also available for viewing for the first time, or at least it was before it was auctioned off, was a previously unknown draft of one of the final chapters of James Joyce’s Ulysses. The Eumaeus chapter, described by Joyce critic Hugh Kenner as ‘the book’s most profound tribute to its hero Ulysses,’ has only one other known working draft – the one kept at the State University of … [Read more...] about A Pricey Bundle of Joyce
Golden Boys
There must be something in the water of Nenagh, County Tipperary. The town’s offspring seem to have unusually high traces of medal. Make that gold medal. 1956 Olympic 1,500 meter winner, Ronnie Delany, with the Tipperary Olympic Gold Memorial Committee has launched a project to honor three famous champions with Nenagh roots. Already fundraising has begun on the plan that … [Read more...] about Golden Boys
Billy Collins as Soul Friend
A visit to Ireland with Poet Laureate Billy Collins. What draws an assortment of poets to Ireland to study with Billy Collins? If you've been to the Beara Peninsula, you understand the allure of this mountainous region in West Cork; if you are familiar with Billy Collins' poetry, its quirky bends and heart-stopping imagery, you would never even ask the question. … [Read more...] about Billy Collins as Soul Friend