Irish poet to read works on women's struggles

In tradition of the Irish culture and history, the Dublin Irish Celebration Committee and the Dublin Arts Council will present an evening of poetry reading with Eavan Boland, an internationally-recognized poet from Ireland Friday. Boland's poetry and essays have a female and history focus that stem from the national historical concerns of Ireland, said Wally Maurer, a professor emeritus of English at Ohio State University and a member of the Dublin Irish Celebration Committee of Dublin, Ohio. "She (Boland) has an instant connection with the human circumstances that she examines and looks at things that aren't prefabricated. She is constantly discovering details and open up reality in her poems," Maurer said. Maurer is the person responsible for having Boland come to Dublin. Since Maurer is on the Dublin Irish Celebration Committee, he wanted to bring a writer to Dublin who was strongly associated with Irish culture and history, to celebrate Dublin's heritage. "It was actually suggested to me to have Boland to come and read by Morris Beja," said Maurer. Beja is also a professor of English at OSU, and is familiar with Boland's work. "I had seen her several times in Ireland at conferences and throughout Europe. This will be a good chance for Americans to hear her work," Beja said. "The people that come to hear her will definitely be moved. Her poems and essays are very interesting and fascinating. It will be a great way to celebrate Dublin." Boland has many poems and essays that focus on women and their struggles throughout history, especially in Ireland. Her writings consist of eight volumes of poetry, "New Territory," which she wrote in 1967, and her most recent works, "In a Time of Violence," which she wrote in 1994. "She is known for being an extremely feminine poet," Maurer said. "She also directs creative writing at Stanford University and also lead a protest against the 'Anthology of Irish Literature,' because few women poets, besides herself, were included in the collection," Maurer said. "Which turned out to be a success, because the editors are going to publish a supplementary to the 'Anthology of Irish Literature' because of the protest." Boland also uses a lot of her own experiences in her work, said Ellen Jones, an associate professor of English in Women Studies, and Irish Studies, at The St. Louis University. Her father served as an Irish ambassador to England and her mother was an artist, and she is able to display her experiences of living in different countries from having to move around all of the time in her work, Jones said. "When Boland began writing poetry, the words, women and poetry, were opposed to each other. Major writers of poetry, when she began, were men and the women that did write were not well known. By writing from her childhood experiences, she is able to write from her personal, historical past," Jones said. "She feels that women have been silent and they have to come to terms with it by writing out of this void and making the historical silence of women recognized. Boland feels that they (women) have a birth right in poetry. "She is a role model for many women and many of my students find her to be an inspiration. I think that the people who hear her on Friday will see this, too," Jones said. The reading will be held at the 1919 Building, on West Bridge Streetin Dublin. Admission for Boland's reading will be $7 and $5 for students and seniors. The reading will start at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 1. Boland will also be at Denney Hall in the English Department, Commons Room 311, the following Saturday at 9 a.m.