Testimonials

  • Emilie Pine at the University of Granada

    students

    “Emilie Pine's warmth and openness left a lasting impression on me. Her willingness to share her personal journey, real emotions, and inner conflicts was truly inspiring and relatable. I was particularly struck by her insight into bridging reality and expressing the non-...

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  • Dermot Bolger at the University of Alcalá

    students

    “Dermot Bolger exceeded all expectations. Engaging in direct dialogue with him provided a captivating insight into his multifaceted world of plays, novels, poems, and radio work. His reflection on writing stories as a means of understanding the world struck a chord with me...

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  • Dermot Bolger visiting Alcalá and Granada

    writer

    "When I spent the first months of strict Covid Lockdown gazing out at a deserted Dublin street, while going back over short stories published or broadcast during the previous three decades, to revise the best of them and finally publish a debut collection of short stories, I...

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  • Emilie Pine visiting Almería and Granada

    writer

    "It was such a pleasure to be invited to read my work and meet with students in Almeria and Granada. When I began writing, I could not imagine that I would have opportunities like these, to spend time with students in Spain who have read what I've written and who are so...

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  • Dermot Bolger visiting the University of Alcalá, Madrid

    students

    "Being able to interact with the author allows one the opportunity to discover part of the process behind his writing. Dermot Bolger is a clever and humorous writer who is conscious of how fast reality can be altered. To him, being an author does not have the aim of achieving...

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  • Jan Carson at the University of Kiel

    MA students

    "Jan Carson's reading was truly impressive and impactful and I gained profound insights into someone who lived through the troubles. Her ability to use writing as a coping mechanism, transforming negativity into something impactful, is truly inspiring. I also think her writing style is very...

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  • Jan Carson at the Carl-von-Ossietzky-Buchhandlung in Flensburg

    audience members

     

    “Hearing Jan Carson read from her books was an absolute joy – the humour and insight that she shares with the audience and readers was a treasure. The insight into the different perspectives allows us to gain a glimpse into lives and ways that are...

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  • Jan Carson at the University of Hamburg

    students and lecturer

    "It was a pleasure to meet Jan Carson in the last session of our university seminar on hotels in literature. I was impressed by how charismatically and casually Carson engaged with our group. After briefly introducing herself to us, she read a variety of excerpts from her yet...

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  • Helen Cullen at the University of Stuttgart

    students

    "The creative writing workshop by Helen Cullen was a truly exciting experience. I'm still surprised when I think about how much I learned in such a short span of time. The writing exercises were a lot more fun and a lot less intimidating than I had feared at first, and her...

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  • Helen Cullen at the University of Siegen

    students

     

    “I really enjoyed Helen's description of motherhood in Ireland. How until today the Irish constitution differs between man and women and patriarchy reveals itself in the system's core. Helen explained how the relationship between Irish mothers and their children creates a lot of...

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  • Helen Cullen at the Literaturhaus Dortmund

    audience members

    Helen Cullen’s reading was a profound experience that stirred introspection and emotion. She showcased brilliance as a writer by questioning my own beliefs through her literature and her presentation of it. Moreover, the reading offered personal insights into Helen Cullen’s writing process,...

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  • Poetry Reading Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh in Bratislava

    students

    Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh sat down with us (first year English language and literature students) in our university café at Comenius University to read us her works of poetry first in English, then in Irish. Not only had some of my classmates never engaged with Irish poetry, but...

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  • Poetry Reading Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh at Centre for Irish Studies Prague

    Student

    It was a treat hearing Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh's poems in Irish, with their individual backstories, and such an amazing concept, to get one poem read in three languages. It really got me thinking about the uniqueness of the experience of the original text and it s translations...

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  • Literary Evening with Pat Boran and Sheila Armstrong, LCIS writers-in-residence

    Student

    "On the evening of October 19th, the Irish College came alive with the enchanting presence of celebrated writers Sheila Armstrong and Pat Boran. The event witnessed a tremendous outpouring of interest from an enthusiastic audience, a testament to the...

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  • Gerry Smyth at the University of Strasbourg

    I enjoyed so much my visits to the beautiful cities of Lyon and Strasbourg as part of the 2023 Irish Itinerary. In Lyon I delivered a plenary lecture at a conference on Stories and Communities; and in Strasbourg I performed a concert of Irish musical material. I was warmly welcomed by local...

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  • Gerry Smyth at the University of Lyon

    Dr. Marion Bourdeau

    We were delighted to welcome Gerry Smyth, who told us about his upcoming book on Atlantic myths and legends from all over the world, and discussed the technical, ethical and formal issues at stake. His conference and the discussion afterwards were deeply enriching, and we are very thankful to...

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  • Jan Carson's reading at Nijmegen

    Student

    The pub lecture with Jan Carson was absolutely phenomenal. Carson joined us in our local pub in NIjmegen to discuss her work and life as a Northern-Irish author. Quite a few people had not read her work yet, but her enthusiasm and humour were so contagious that we did not notice how fast the...

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  • Students' reactions to Jan Carson's reading at the University of Ghent

    students

    "It was fascinating to find out more about Jan Carson's work. As a Belgian student, I was amazed by how The Troubles are presented in her work, namely the big diversity in how they are experienced in different times and by people form different age groups...

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  • Kateřina García and Pádraig Ó Liatháin about their visit to the University of La Rioja

    Musicians & academics

    We had a fantastic experience at the Irish Itinerary Seminar 2023 of the Centre for Irish Studies BANNA/BOND, at the University of La Rioja. The event was excellently organised by Dr Melania Terrazas and her team. Dr Terrazas was a fabulous host, very forthcoming...

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  • SJ McArdle at the Irish College Leuven

    musician

    (c) Photos by Tom Herbots

  • Students about Theo Dorgan's visit at the Granada Centre of Irish Studies

    MA Students

    I can speak on behalf of all my MA colleagues in saying that Theo Dorgan’s visit was the highlight of the Seminar. Having read and analysed some of his poems, it was very touching to have the opportunity to listen to the author reciting them. Notably, when Theo read the poem 'Speaking to my...

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  • Book launch 'The Writer's Torch', with Nicole Flattery and Sean O'Reilly

    Phyllis Boumans, doctoral researcher

    On Friday 2 December the Leuven Centre for Irish Studies launched the publication of The Writer's Torch: Reading Stories from The Bell (2022, Stinging Fly Press), an anthology of eighteen short stories originally published in The Bell, Ireland's iconic mid-twentieth-century...

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  • Mary O'Donnell and Jaki McCarrick at the Irish College, Leuven

     

    'It is rarely we are able to see into the mind and soul of a writer. In Leuven on the 19th of October we had that chance with writers Mary O'Donnell and Jacki McCarrick ably guided by Siobhan Campbell who curated the discussion. Within an intimate setting, the writers described their...

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  • Lucy Caldwell and Anne Enright in conversation

    On a bitterly cold, late November evening we were treated to a warm conversation with two of Ireland's most prominent contemporary, female writers, Anne Enright and Lucy Caldwell. The event, chaired by Professor Hedwig Schwall, saw both writers share their unique insights into what being Irish...

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  • Oisín Kearney in Wuppertal, Germany

    writer & director

    'The Irish Border Narratives Symposium in Wuppertal was extremely interesting. The delegates were experts on the border from various disciplines and could speak to the jural, sociological, literary and filmic iterations of the border. I spoke about my plays, which have dealt with the history and...

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  • Mary Morrissy at the University of Alcalá, Madrid

    Irish novelist and short story writer

    'There was a great sense of occasion about my visit to the University of Alcalá as it was the inaugural event of the university’s Irish Studies Centre, brainchild of Dr Marisol Morales- Ladrón. The presence of the cultural attaché of the Irish embassy, Rory Geraghty, representing the ambassador...

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  • Audience reactions to Oisín Kearney in Wuppertal

    audience

    At the conclusion of the first day of the Irish Border Narratives Symposium from 16-17 June 2022 at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Sandra Heinen interviewed director and playwright Oisín Kearney in a panel on 'Staging Irish Border Narratives.' Their discussion of Oisín Kearney's plays (co-...

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  • Adam Wyeth on the German Irish Itinerary

    writer

    My EFACIS tour of Germany was a real delight from beginning to end. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing more of the country across the various modes of public transport. It's always exciting entering a new city for the first time, especially as I was so warmly welcomed by each of my brilliant hosts:...

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  • Student reactions to Mary Morrissy's talk at the "Alka-Éire", Alcalá Centre for Irish Studies, Madrid

    Students of the MA Programme in Anglophone and Hispanic Literatures and the Degree in English Studies

     

    Students of the MA Programme in Anglophone and Hispanic Literatures

    • Olivia Serret Sanz: Mary Morrisy's...
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  • Student reactions to the readings & discussions with Lucy Caldwell on Monday 24 February

    “Lucy Caldwell blessed our grey and rainy Monday morning – a true dreich day, just like the one mentioned in her short story “Here we are” – with a captivating reading on her life and work. A classroom full of students was taken along on a fascination trip across her childhood in Belfast, her...

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  • MA Students in Granada on the digital visits of Emilie Pine, Donal Ryan and Colette Bryce

    MA students

    I am really grateful to Prof. Pilar Villar Argáiz for gifting us with the opportunity to meet in real life the authors of the masterful narratives we have been working on in class: Emilie Pine, Donal Ryan and Colette Bryce. I had never experienced something like that, but being able to discuss...

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  • Professor Pilar Villar Argaíz on the Literary Festival at Valladolid

    Senior Lecturer of British and Irish Literatures, University of Granada

    Thanks to EFACIS, we could bring to the Valladolid literary festival two of Ireland’s leading writers at present: Mary O’Donnell and Jan Carson. I chaired a roundtable with them and afterwards they went to sign their books in the main square of this beautiful city. The readings were held in a...

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  • Marina Carr

    playwright

    I had a wonderful time last spring in Spain as part of the Irish Itinerary with EFACIS. I was hosted by the University of La Rioja in Logroño and the University of Granada. Dr Melania Terrazas Gallego gave me and my husband a lovely welcome in Logroño. The students were excellent and very...

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  • Jan Carson in Burgos, Spain

    writer

    'I love being a European writer. Unbelievably grateful for all the conversations and connections in Spain this week at aedei 2022.'

    Writer Jan Carson on her trip to the AEDEI Conference 2022 in Burgos, Spain

  • Jessica Traynor

    "Traveling to the EFACIS conference in Ljubljana in August of 2019 was a rare pleasure and privilege. Meeting with so many well-informed and interesting people with a passion for Irish history, politics and culture was inspiring and I feel I have developed some true and lasting connections....

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  • Audience reactions to the Irish Literary Night at the Irish College, Leuven

    'During the Irish Book Night on Thursday 5 May, we were graced by the presence of three wonderful Irish authors Sinead Gleeson, Mike McCormack and Paul McVeigh, who immersed us in their writing. A dive into their work and lives drew us closer to their stories and we became acquainted with the...

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