News & Events

Former Booker Prize judge Frank Delaney and former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom Sir Andrew Motion will bookend the fifth Summer’s Wreath festival celebrating the life and works of William Butler Yeats at the National Library of Ireland this year. As well as being a best-selling writer Delaney has interviewed more than 3,000 writers for the BBC including many of the literary greats of our time. In the opening event on Wednesday, June 8th at 8pm, he will reflect on Yeats’s life and work. The programme of public events will conclude with former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion on Thursday, June 23rd at 8pm in which he will reflect on the way in which Yeats shaped the poetry of Philip Larkin.

Yeats scholars Professor Roy Foster and Joseph M. Hassett will talk about their recently published books on Yeats (Monday, June 13th at 8pm) while the Library’s magnificent domed Reading Room will be a dramatic backdrop for a special performance (Saturday, June 18th at 8pm) by musician, songwriter and actress Andrea Corr who will read a selection of Yeats’s poetry with music content by master piper Liam O’Flynn.

Tamasin Day-Lewis, film-maker, food writer and daughter of Irish poet Cecil Day-Lewis will give her own personal reflection on Yeats and the impact his work has had on her life (Monday, June 13th at 1pm). Winning author, writer and presenter of the BBC landmark documentary series, Story of Ireland, Fergal Keane (Thursday, June 9th at 1pm), best selling author Hugo Hamilton (Wednesday, June 15th at 1pm) and Irish actress Kate O’Toole (Thursday, June 23rd at 1pm), are among the other lunchtime events planned.  For lovers of poetry and literature in general, the Library will have a new one-day Immersion Course “Models and Paragons” with Dr. Gerard Dineen (Friday, June 24th).

Born on 13th June 1865, William Butler Yeats became one of the greatest Irish figures in world literature. The National Library of Ireland holds the single-most important archive of his work, which features in its award-winning exhibition Yeats: the life and works of William Butler Yeats. For full details of the Summer’s Wreath 2011 programme and booking information see www.nli.ie