Popular Irish Author to Give Reading from Award-Winning Novel at Holy Cross

Irish author Kevin Barry will give a reading on Wednesday, March 11 at 7 p.m. in the Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross. The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Callahan Support Fund for Irish Studies.

Barry has authored two short story collections, “There Are Little Kingdoms” (Stinging Fly Press, 2007), which he won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature; and  “Dark Lies the Island” (Graywolf Press, 2012). His novel “City of Bohane” (Graywolf Press, 2011) was awarded the 2013 Impac Award, one of the most prestigious and lucrative international book awards. “City of Bohane” recounts the savage tale of ‘hip gangsters’ battling in the streets of rural Ireland in 2053. The story is told in Barry’s lively and often hilarious vernacular.  Barry has been dubbed a “writer of great promise” by the Guardian and the New York Times says his book is an “extraordinary first novel.”

The English department will also be hosting the following speakers this spring. Upcoming events:

• Wednesday, March 18 at 4:30 p.m – Carolyn Dinshaw, professor and chair of social and cultural analysis at New York University, will be the presenter for The Thomas Grace, S.J. Memorial Lecture. Her lecture is titled “I've Got You Under My Skin: The Green Man, Trans-Species Bodies, and Queer Worldmaking.”

• Thursday, March 26 at 7:30 p.m – Working Writer Series to present Author, Judy Frank

• Thursday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m  –  Working Writer Series to present American Poet, William Wenthe and Author, Philip Metres