Irish Issue Launch Party: Feb 9 & 10

The Prairie Schooner Irish Issue Launch Party, a two-day event at the Sheldon Museum of Art, begins tomorrow (Thursday, February 9) and ends Friday, February 10. This free and open-to-the-public event features award-winning Irish writers included in our Winter 2011 Irish Issue, along with other exciting, Irish-themed festivities.

Thursday, from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., Irish authors Deanie Rowan Blank and Nuala Ní Chonchúir read and interview with Editor-in-Chief Kwame Dawes and Managing Editor Marianne Kunkel, followed from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. with a panel focusing on contemporary Irish literature. Professor Stephen Behrendt moderates the panel, which includes Karen Babine, Ní Chonchúir, Aidan Rooney, and Bret Shepard.

From 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. on Friday, Irish writers Aidan Rooney and Sandra Bunting read and interview with Professor Grace Bauer and Cody Lumpkin, followed from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. by the Prairie Schooner Irish issue launch, featuring guest readings from Jeff Alessandrelli, Jennifer Dean, Crystal Gibbins, Jason Hertz, and John Schulze (introduced by Stephen Behrendt).

Friday evening, from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. in the Sheldon’s Great Hall, Prairie Schooner will host a reception featuring live Irish music along with Irish-themed food and alcoholic beverages, immediately followed at 8 p.m. with readings by Blank, Bunting, Ní Chonchúir, and Rooney.