The Madwomen Reading Series presents Irish poet Thomas McCarthy, who will give a reading of his work on Tuesday, October 10, in the Kresge Center at Carlow University.
| Marketing and Communications | For Immediate Release |
| Drew Wilson, Director, Media Relations | October 03, 2017 |
| 412.578.2095 (phone) | |
| 412.260.6807 (cell) | |
| 412.578.2080 (fax) | |
| agwilson@carlow.edu |
Pittsburgh, Pa. – Carlow University’s Madwomen Reading Series presents Irish poet Thomas McCarthy on Tuesday, October 10, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. in the Kresge Center, located on the fifth floor of University Commons, on the Carlow campus. This reading is free and open to the public.
“Thomas McCarthy is considered by Dennis O’Driscoll to be, along with Paul Muldoon, the most important Irish poet of his generation,” said Jan Beatty, interim director of Carlow’s MFA in creative writing. “McCarthy is a poet primarily concerned with politics and family, particularly his unremitting and detailed examination of the Republic’s failures and successes as an independent state.”
Described by Eavan Boland as the first poet born into the Republic to write about it critically, McCarthy has done so from the perspective of a family dedicated and loyal to the state’s most successful and powerful political party: Fianna Fáil. But his poems are not eulogies to the party or apologies for its policies; they are more like an exploration of the party as an object of loyalty and devotion (like a lover objectified) with all the potential such an object has for empowerment and betrayal. In Merchant Prince, a prose novella is bookended by two sequences of poems, all of which are interrelated. His book, The Last Geraldine Officer, features a sequence of prose-poems consisting of the campaign diary of an Irishman serving as an officer in the British army of the Second World War. His latest book, Pandemonium, by Carcanet Press, was published to great acclaim in 2016.
“I’m a realist. I work away in an ordinary manner, making poems and giving workshops,” McCarthy has been quoted as saying. He was born and raised at Cappoquin Co. Waterford, and has spent practically all his working life as a librarian in Cork City, except for occasional sabbaticals. He has published nine collections of poetry and two novels.
The Dublin Review of Books writes that “his voice—with its idiosyncratic tone and verbal texture—registered firmly as one of the most distinctive and it is now one of the most authoritative among poets of his generation.”
The reading begins at 7:30 with a book table open at 7 p.m. A reception and a book signing follow the reading.
For more information, please contact Sarah Williams-Devereux at sewilliams412@carlow.edu or Jan Beatty at jpbeatty@carlow.edu. Sponsored by Carlow University’s English Department, Creative Writing Program, Women’s and Gender Studies Program, and MFA in Creative Writing Program.
###
About Carlow University
Carlow is a private, co-educational, Catholic university located in the heart of Pittsburgh’s “Eds, Meds, and Tech” district. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy, Carlow’s graduates, curricula, and partnerships reflect its strong commitment to social justice; ethical, forward-thinking and responsible leadership; and service to the community that has a meaningful impact. Undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered in three colleges: Health and Wellness, Leadership and Social Change, and Learning and Innovation. Carlow graduates are in demand for their professional expertise, in fields ranging from nursing, the sciences, and perfusion technology to counseling, education, and forensic accounting; their entrepreneurial spirit and creative mindset; and their ability to manage change. Carlow’s 13 athletic teams are known as the Celtics, a reflection of the university’s Irish heritage and roots.