Full day symposium on Irish America

The migration from Ireland to the US is one of the most important dimensions of Irish history. Of all European countries, Ireland was the country that sent the most emigrants to the US relative to its own size. Also from an American perspective the Irish immigrant group has played a significant role in different ways, not least in American politics. Movements between Ireland and the US have been going on for several centuries, and have left deep imprints on both sides of the Atlantic. Today there are over 30 million people in the US who claim to be of Irish heritage – while there are just under five million in Ireland.

The symposium 20 March will explore a number of different aspects of the Irish migration to the US, and the Irish-American society of today. The lecturers come from universities in Ireland, the US and Sweden. Among topics discussed will be the reasons behind the migration, the American migration’s role in the larger Irish diaspora, different ways in which the migration is still of significance and remembered, the Celtic element, and how Irish America is treated from a literary perspective.

The symposium is open to all and will be ended with a conversation between well-known Irish poet Paul Muldoon and Ola Larsmo about his authorship and about Irish America.

Muldoon is based at Princeton University in the US, and has published over 30 poetry collections and has won a number of prestigious literary awards (including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, the Shakespeare Prize and the European Prize for Poetry). Since 2007 he is poetry editor for The New Yorker.

Ola Larsmo is a leading Swedish author who, apart from his own significant authorship and his commitment to contemporary issues, has a special interest in Ireland and Irish literature.

Time and place: 20 March, 10.15–18.00, in the Betty Pettersson hall, Campus Blåsenhus, Uppsala University.