University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, 20-23 June 2012

The transposed and rediscovered aspects of Irish culture continue to thrive and renew themselves throughout the New World and elsewhere. The interaction of such cultures within a wider spectrum provide the opportunity to discover and celebrate a wider definition of those directions towards which Irish culture overseas is developing. The growing body of literature produced by writers of Irish origin or heritage helps focus attention on the many Irish communities outside of Ireland. In the same way, the social and political history of the Irish in North America provides ample material for our understanding of transposed and renewed ethnicity.

For the conference Cultures and Contexts in Ireland’s Diasporas, we invite proposals for papers concerning as widely as possible the various Irish diasporas as reflected in literature, language, history, folk culture, life-writing, gender studies, contemporary popular culture, and new media. We particularly welcome papers that will address aspects of Irish culture in the Francophone communities of Canada, as well as the rich heritage of the Canadian-Irish experience in general. Although all papers reflecting the Irish diasporas of North America are welcome, we also encourage the submission of proposals concerning the Irish in South America and beyond the Anglophone world.  The Organizing Committee also welcomes proposals on other Irish-related topics as well as proposals for special panels.

Nous acceptons des soumissions en français ou en anglais.
…………………………………………
Final date for proposals:  February  15TH ,  2012

Contact: Paul W. Birt, PhD, Chair of Celtic Studies,
Arts Hall,
70, Laurier Avenue East
Room 134
Ottawa, ON Canada
K1N 6N5
pwbirt@uottawa.ca

A Graduate-Student Conference Exploring the Relationship between Hybridity and Irish Literature 

Place: University of Notre Dame

Date: March 29-31, 2012

Keynote Speakers: Terry Eagleton (University of Lancaster, University of Notre Dame)

David Lloyd (University of Southern California)

Clair Wills (Queen Mary, University of London)

Poetry Reading: Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill

Medbh McGuckian (tentative) (Queen’s University, Belfast)

In recent literary and cultural analyses, Ireland’s unique relation to various notions of hybridity has been given preliminary consideration. Whether pertaining to genres and styles, discourses and disciplines, or identities and influences, it has become apparent that a defining feature of many Irish works is their resistance to traditional, narrow categorization. In an attempt to expand upon these earlier approaches, the Keough-Naughton Institute at the University of Notre Dame will be holding a three-day graduate-student conference to address the relationship between hybridity and Irish literature, with a special focus on texts from the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. Submissions might interrogate past engagements with the concept of hybridity—a term itself which has no clear definition—as well as posit possible new understandings of “the hybrid” that are specific to Ireland. We invite criticism that focuses on conventionally understood literary genres (poetry, fiction, drama, memoir) as well as work from related fields, including but not limited to history, art, theory, folklore, material culture, and film studies. Furthermore, because the nature of hybridity suggests a coming-together of different elements, one of our goals is to cultivate a critical approach that is itself hybrid; in other words, we very much encourage interdisciplinary approaches to the topic. Our hope is to facilitate a critical conversation that envisions a hybrid Ireland—or, more appropriately, hybrid Irelands—and its literature.

Suggested topics:

Transnational Poetics

Generic Crossovers

Contemporary Engagements with Folklore

Transatlantic Fictions

Culture and Immigration

Ireland in Translation

Evolving Images in Film and Art

Recontextualizing “Literary Ireland”

Dialects and Language Change

Dislocated Spaces

Print Culture and Textual Authorship

Abstracts should be no longer than 150 words. The deadline for submissions is November 15, 2011. Please email your abstracts to hybridIE@nd.edu.

For questions or concerns, please contact John Dillon and Nathaniel Myers at hybridIE@nd.edu, or look us up on Facebook (search: Hybrid Irelands).

Along with papers specific to the conference theme, we are interested in using this conference to highlight the most recent work in the field. Therefore, we welcome submissions addressing any and all topics or themes relevant to Irish studies. Both individual paper and panel submissions (3-4 participants) are welcomed, as are proposals for presentations in non-traditional formats (posters, performances, exhibits). Proposals should be 250-500 words in length, and include a brief (~50 word) bio of the submitter or—in the case of panels—each participant.

Please send any questions to Laura D. Kelley, Ph.D. Tulane University.

Submissions are due September 30, 2011 to acis2012@gmail.com

Text and Beyond Text in Irish Studies: New Visual,
Material & Spatial Perspectives

School of Canadian Irish Studies
Concordia University, Montreal
6 – 9 July 2011
Organizers: Michael Kenneally and Rhona Richman Kenneally

Initially based primarily on text-based literary and historical investigation, Irish Studies have increasingly been infused by resources and methods derived from other disciplines. Explorations of visual communication, of material culture and the built environment, and of performance generate contrapuntal meanings to be considered alongside textually-derived narratives. Indeed, words (whether sung, spoken or written), aside from their own function and inherent value in history and culture, also serve as conduits to study Irish things, places, and performances.

The premise of this conference is to encourage a flourishing dynamic between the study of text-based materials and that of images, things, sounds, tastes, movement, and other cultural and social markers, as a means of offering new perspectives on Irish Studies. The Canadian Association for Irish Studies, therefore, invites papers on any aspect of these disciplines. Papers are also invited on other topics of interest to members of CAIS.

Please submit your proposal by February 21, 2011 to irishstu@alcor.concordia.ca. Proposals should be 250-500 words in length, and include a brief ( approx. 50 word) bio of the submitter. Please send any questions to the conference e-mail address.

CAIS Registration form 2010

The Irish Studies Programme at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, will be hosting CAIS/ACEI’s annual conference from May 19 to May 22, 2010. The theme of the conference is “Ireland and its Discontents: Success and Failure in Modern Ireland” and will include lively academic sessions and literary and cultural events.

Information about the conference can also be accessed through Saint Mary’s website

Professor Clair Wills will give a keynote lecture, there will be readings by the internationally-acclaimed poet, Micheal O’Siadhail, and the Irish-language writer, Micheál Ó Conghaile, and a concert featuring the Aran Island-singer, Lasairfhíona Ní Chonaola. Moreover, the conference is partnering with the Ireland Canada University Foundation to bring the Government of Ireland’s ICUF Irish language scholars to Halifax for a roundtable discussion on teaching Irish in Canada.

You will find below information about conference registration, including a registration form, accommodation options, and Halifax.

Here are a couple of useful links:

Campus map: http://www.smu.ca/administration/admiss/campustour/campus-map.pdf
Weather network: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/cans0057?ref=homecity
Airport information: http://www.flyhalifax.ca/

CAIS Conference 2010: Main Guests

Clair Wills is Professor of Irish Literature at Queen Mary University of London. She has published widely on Irish poetry and literary culture. Her study of Ireland during the war years, That Neutral Island: A History of Ireland during the Second World War (2007), won the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History. Her most recent book is Dublin 1916: The Siege of the GPO.

Micheal O’Siadhail (www.osiadhail.com) was born in 1947. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College, Trinity College Dublin, and the University of Oslo. A full-time writer, he has published twelve collections of poetry. He was awarded an Irish American Cultural Institute prize for poetry in 1982, the Marten Toonder prize for literature in 1998 and The Gossamer Wall was short-listed for Wingate Jewish Quarterly Prize (2003). His poem suites The Naked Flame, Summerfest, Earlsfort Suite and Dublin Spring were commissioned and set to music for performance and broadcasting. He has given poetry readings and broadcast extensively in Ireland, Britain, Europe, North America and Japan. In 1985 he was invited to give the Vernam Hull Lecture at Harvard and the Trumbull Lecture at Yale University. He represented Ireland at the Poetry Society’s European Poetry Festival in London in 1981 and at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1997. He was writer-in-residence at the Yeats Summer School in 1991.
Micheal O’Siadhail was a member of the Arts Council of the Republic of Ireland (1988-93) and of the Advisory Committee on Cultural Relations (1989 -97), a founder member of Aosdána and a former editor of Poetry Ireland Review. He was the founding chairman of ILE (Ireland Literature Exchange). Several of his books have been translated into Japanese and German.

Micheál Ó Conghaile was born in 1962. He is from Inis Treabhair originally, but now living in Indreabhán, Co. Galway. He established the publishing company Cló Iar-Chonnachta (www.cic.ie) in 1985 and the company has since published over 300 books and 200 traditional Irish music albums.
A prolific and talented writer, he has published poetry, short stories, a novel, a play, and a novella, and has also done some translation work. In 1997 the Irish American Cultural Institute awarded him The Butler Literary Award. The same year his second collection of short stories, An Fear a Phléasc (The Man Who Exploded), was published and received much critical acclaim. His short story ‘Athair,’ (Father), from that collection, was awarded the Hennessy Literary Award that year, and he was also awarded the Hennessy Young Irish Writer of the Year Award. In 1998 he was elected to Aosdána for his “outstanding contribution to the Arts in Ireland.” His first novel, Sna Fir, (Among Men), was published in 1999, and was shortlisted for The Irish Times Literature Awards 2001. His works have been translated into various languages, including Romanian, Croatian, Albanian, Slovenian, German, Polish and English. Micheál Ó Conghaile’s third collection of short stories, An Fear nach nDéanann Gáire (The Man who Never Laughs), was published in 2003 and his first play Cúigear Chonamara was staged at An Taibhdhearc Theatre, Galway, in October, 2003 and was awarded the Stewart Parker/BBC Ulster Award, an Oireachtas Award and a Writers Week/Listowel Award. He was writer in Residence at Queen’s University, Belfast and at the University of Ulster, Coleraine, 1999–2002. His second play, Jude, was produced at An Taibhdhearc in Galway in March 2007, as was his third play, Go dTaga do Ríocht, in July 2008.

Lasairfhíona (pronounced Lah-sah-reena), the young singer/songwriter from the West of Ireland has made quite an impression on the folk and world music scene in recent years (www. Aransinger.com). Deeply rooted in the sean-nós singing style of her native Inis Oírr on the Aran Islands, she is equally at home in a more innovative approach to Irish music. Lasairfhíona’s new slant on traditional singing makes her endeavors very appealing, culminating, as one critic noted ‘in a magical mosaic of sound, as refreshing and as unpredictable as a showery day inside in Aran.’ She is a native Irish speaker and learnt many original songs from her family, thus continuing the rich singing tradition of the Aran Islands. Described by fRoots magazine as “one of the most sumptuous traditional albums to have emerged for sometime,” Lasairfhíona’s debut album An Raicín Álainn (pronounced An Rackeen Ah-lyn), launched in 2002 at the Festival Interceltique in Lorient, Brittany, generated a very favourable response in Ireland and abroad. Appropriately called Flame of Wine, a literal translation of her name, her second solo album was released in 2005 and was also well received; tracks from Flame of Wine were used on the award winning BBC programme Coast. Lasairfhíona appeared on television programmes, such as The Late Late Show, Up For The Match and she was also the subject of a special television documentary called Léargas. Her singing can be heard on IBM’s Porto Media web documentary called Stories of Innovation.

CAIS/ ACEI Conference 2010: Registration

CAIS Registration form 2010 for this year’s CAIS/ ACEI conference in Halifax.

The Conference organizers will acknowledge all registrations in a timely manner. For planning reasons, we encourage you to register by May 10, 2010.

Please download, fill out the form and email completed form to: irishstudies@smu.ca

The organizers have tried to keep the registration fees as modest as possible. The Regular and the Student rates include not just the opening reception, coffee breaks and concert but also three lunches in the Saint Mary’s University Dockside Dining Hall (“All-you-care-to-eat”). As usual the conference will conclude with the CAIS/ACEI banquet. Please note that there is a separate charge for the banquet.
Regrettably, Saint Mary’s University does not offer online registration for conferences (don’t blame the CAIS Conference organizers: they tried!). Thus, we are offering a number of options for registration:
(1) Mail the enclosed registration form with the appropriate payment — cheque or money order (Canadian funds only) or with the credit card section completed — to Pádraig Ó Siadhail, Irish Studies, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 3C3.
Or
(2) Fax the registration form with the credit card section completed to Pádraig Ó Siadhail , Irish Studies, at (902) 420-5110.

We look forward to welcoming you to Halifax in May.

CAIS/ ACEI Conference 2010: Accommodation

CAIS/ACEI for the 2010 Annual Conference is offering three suggestions for accommodation. Please see below for the following information.

Saint Mary’s University
The least expensive option is the student residence on Saint Mary’s University campus. Please note that the campus residence includes breakfast. For additional details, please see the attached form (SMUResidence2010). Mail the completed form to Conference Service at Saint Mary’s University or call their toll free number at 1-888-347-5555 for bookings.

RESIDENCE RATES – 2010
Total
(With Taxes & Breakfast)
Single $42.00
Twin $65.00

The Lord Nelson Hotel & Suites
Corner of Spring Garden Road and South Park Street in downtown Halifax. 15 minute walk to university. Overlooks the Public Gardens Park.

The Lord Nelson Hotel & Suites is pleased to offer delegates attending The CAIS/ACEI Annual Conference the following special rate: $155.00/day + applicable taxes for a Classic Guest Room during May 18-23, 2010. All guest room rates include complimentary high speed internet access and are based on availability. To book your reservation, simply e-mail the Reservations Department at ask@lordnelsonhotel.com or call 1-800-565-2020 and quote #19531 to receive your special rate.
For more information please view this website: http://www.lordnelsonhotel.com/index.asp

The Halliburton
Located on Morris Street between Barrington Street and Hollis Street in downtown Halifax.
15-20 minute walk to university.

CAIS has blocked off 10 rooms at the Halliburton. These rooms are being offered at a nightly price of $129.00/day + applicable taxes. Each room has a queen size bed. Complimentary breakfast, wireless connection, and parking will be provided to guest. The Halliburton is a historical building. Guest will require climbing one to two sets of stairs, there are no elevators. To reserve a room, simply call 1-888-512-3344 or email them at reservations@thehalliburton.com. Please request a room from the reserved block held under “CAIS”. Delegates must reserve a blocked guest room no later than April 18th, 2010. All remaining rooms will be released at that time. For more information please view this website: http://www.halliburton.ns.ca/

Other Accommodation
If the accommodation above does not meet your needs, feel free to check out this link for listings of other accommodation near the university. http://www.halifaxinfo.com/

CAIS/ ACEI Conference 2010: General Information

CAIS/ACEI for the 2010 Annual Conference has gathered additional information to help make your stay an enjoyable experience.

Saint Mary’s University
Saint Mary’s University is located on Robie Street at the junction with Inglis Street in the south end of the Halifax Peninsula, close to the city centre.

A map can be found at: http://www.smu.ca/administration/admiss/campustour/campustour.html

Halifax Stanfield International Airport
For those arriving at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, transportation is available either by taxi or regularly scheduled shuttle bus. Taxi and limousine services are available curbside in the arrivals area for all arriving flights. A one-way trip to Halifax city centre is $53.00 (Canadian) by taxi or $56.00 (Canadian) by limousine. If using Airporter shuttle services, we suggest you disembark at the Lord Nelson Hotel for closest proximity to the university, and then take a taxi (approximately seven dollars CDN). Regular fare for the Airporter is $21.00 (CDN) one way. For more information regarding Airporter, call 902-873-2091. For more information on other services available at the airport, go to: http://www.hiaa.ca

Nightlife
Check out these two websites for listings and reviews on the restaurants and nightlife in Halifax.
Restaurants: http://www.restaurantica.com/ns/Halifax/
Nightlife: http://www.10best.com/Halifax,NS/Nightlife/

Ireland and its Discontents

Success and Failure in Modern Ireland

Canadian Association for Irish Studies/ l’Association canadienne d’études irlandaises

Annual Conference, 2010

Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

19-22 May 2010

“Anyone who is failing at one thing,” psychoanalyst Adam Phillips has suggested, “is always succeeding at another.” We invite proposals for papers interrogating the relationship between success and failure in modern and contemporary Ireland, as reflected in its politics, its economic policies, its literature, and its popular culture. The Celtic Tiger is one obvious recent example of a ‘success’ narrative that was intimately linked to a series of failures on the part of Irish society to safeguard its more vulnerable communities. With the recent publication of the “Ryan Report,” to cite another example, it is clear that the success of the Catholic Church in exerting its power over Ireland’s educational and reformatory institutions came at the price of a failure to guarantee the safety and welfare of Ireland’s youth. By the same token, it might be argued that Fianna Fáil’s longtime political success depended on the failure to engage with the ‘National Question,’ i.e., Partition and Northern Ireland. Success and failure, as manifested in language revival policies, in gender-related issues, in the lives of prominent public figures, and the reality and perceptions of the Irish diaspora, including the Irish in Canada, are also topics worthy of consideration.

We welcome papers that address other topics and proposals for special panels.

Please send proposals including contact information (250 words) by e-mail to:

Pádraig Ó Siadhail, D’Arcy McGee Chair of Irish Studies, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 3C3 (padraig.osiadhail@smu.ca) by 15 January 2010.

Information about travel, accommodation, food is below.

For details of Calgary bus info (which goes right by the Best Western and a stop close to Hotel Arts), please go to:

http://www.calgarytransit.com

Also below is a schedule of conference events.

Please Contact Michele Holmgren (mholmgren@mtroyal.ca) if you have any questions

Calgary, Alberta (June 3-6)
Mount Royal College

INTO THE WEST

The 2009 Canadian Association for Irish Studies is holding its annual conference and AGM from June 3-6, 2009 at Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta. Conference organizers are calling for 20-minute contributions on any aspect connected with or suggested by the title of the conference. 

Keynote speakers:     Ann Saddlemyer & Ronan Bennett

Conference Schedule:

Wednesday, June 3

3 to 6.30 pm      Continuing registration in East Arts (EA) Building (“The Knuckle” Third Floor, EA)

5-7:30 pm          Mount Royal President’s Reception, Mount Royal Faculty Association Faculty Club (W315)

Thursday, June 4

Daytime: Registration and conference sessions, East Arts Building

Evening: Play reading, John Countryman (“Moot Court,” First Floor, EA)

Friday, June 5

Daytime: Conference sessions

Evening: Reading/concert featuring Western writers: Ken Rivard, Richard Harrison, Yvonne Trainer, Sid Marty (“The Knuckle,” Third Floor, EA)

Saturday, June 6

Daytime: Chuckwagon pancake breakfast, 9-10 outside faculty club (weather permitting—otherwise, it will be inside).

Conference sessions, Annual General Meeting (Moot Court)

Evening: Reception at 6.30 p.m. followed by banquet at 7.30

Where to stay, where to eat and drink, and how to get around in Calgary

• Tourism Calgary
• Glenbow Museum and  Archives, Calgary
• Calgary Stampede Grounds 
• Travel Alberta 
• Canadian Rockies 
• Kananaskis Country 
• Tyrrell Museum, Drumheller 
• Mount Royal College
• Calgary Transit 

Addresses and Links for Mount Royal Residence and Hotels. We strongly recommend people check out the MRC residence accommodation. Better than the average university res!!

Mount Royal residence 

A block of rooms have been reserved for CAIS members at the MRC Residence, and if they indicate that they want a double room, they will automatically be partnered with another CAIS delegate of the same gender.  If they wish to share with a specific person, they can request that, and they can also specify if they want a single room. Please direct all inquiries about residence,  especially bookings, to the residence people. Their telephone number and e-mail are clearly displayed on the link.

Hotel Arts  – Special conference rate of $179/night available for CAIS members.  You need to book by May 4. Funky boutique hotel with excellent restaurant and poolside bar.  Decorated with work by local artists.

Best Western Suites  – If we get 10 rooms or more filled, the rate will be $139.00 for the conference rate.  Otherwise people can avail themselves of the corporate rate $170.99 or even a seniors rate. Convenient SW location.  Close to Downtown and C-Train.

Bed and Breakfasts 

Calgary Westways Guesthouse  (a 20-minute ride by Bus).  Close to the Stampede, Downtown and C-train stations

216 – 25 Ave S.W.
Calgary, AB  T2S 0L1
Toll Free: 1-866-846-7038
Phone: 1-403-229-1758
Cell: 1-403-889-9158

Sanderson Manor B&B (about a 25-minute walk from the college) and on the bus route

4312 15th St. S.W.
Calgary, AB  T2T 4B2
Phone: 1-403-287-3820

A Calgary Historic B&B at Twin Gables (a 20-minute ride by Bus).  Close to the Stampede, Downtown and C-train stations

611-25 Ave. SW
Calgary, AB  T2S 0L7
Toll Free: 1-866-271-7754
Phone: 1-403-271-7754

Food on Campus: 

• Campus food 
• Students’ Union Centre (Wykham House) 

Food (off campus, a short hike away)

• Wild Rose Brewery - Next to the farmer’s market.  It is less than a 10-minute walk from campus.
• Calgary Farmer’s Market  – (No more than a 10-minute walk from campus.  Good for lunch.  Open on Friday and Saturday It might be open on Thursday in June if summer hours are in effect)

Bass Brothers Pub

2 Richard Way SW 
Calgary, AB T3E 7M9 

Marda Loop (33rd Ave. is about a 20-minute walk from campus and features some pubs, and modern lounge-style restaurant called “O”,  some ethnic food, including Vietnamese and Opa (Greek), and Kaffa Café in a funky old house. ) 

Downtown and Beyond

There are also many good restaurants on 17th Ave. (20 minutes by bus) and downtown.  Click on the following link for a long list of places to eat in calgary

http://www.tourismcalgary.com/e-cvb/Quicksearch/Qsearchresults.cfm?mc=MDINING