Readings and Writers Making the Cut for The Quest for Sanity and Sanctity in Irish Literature

                 Examples of Some Texts and Authors to be Read and Discussed 

Poem translated from the Irish Language:  "The Lament For Art O'Leary" by Eibhin Dubh O'Connell.  Poems by W.B. Yeats: "The Song of the Wandering Aengus"; "The Stolen Child"; "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death"; "Easter 1916"; “The Mother of God”; “The Magi”; "The Second Coming"; "Sailing To Byzantium"; “Crazy Jane Poems.” One Act Plays: “Calvary” (Yeats) and "Riders to the Sea" (J. M. Synge). Fiction by James Joyce: “Two Sisters” and “Grace” from Dubliners; a section or two from the novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Poetry by Seamus Heaney: “Station Island.”

   The above material represents the kinds of readings we’ll be utilizing in the first month or so of the course.   After we establish some familiarity with the “war horses” above, I want to introduce folks to some of the not-as-well-known Irish poets and fiction writers who also engage with and frame spiritual questions in their work: Trevor and Tóibín, Kinsella and McCann, Boland and Beckett, and others will demonstrate the richness of the repertoire.  Along the way there will of course be song and music, emollients Irish culture regards as essential to preserve sanity and reveal the path to sanctification.

     No choices are written in stone as of now, but these authors and works are what keep coming back to mind as I prepare a settled syllabus.  Readings will be completed in advance of our meetings, and each weekly session will consist of brief background lecture and group discussions.

    There is no book or books to purchase in advance.  I will supply copies of texts in handout for our first two meetings when we gather on Tuesday evening, 7 pm, February 21, 2012.  See you at the Faith Center!