Programs and Events

These programs took place in 2010.

Quicklinks: Film | Author Event | Performance | Panel Discussions | DePaul Course | Online International Discussion | For Teens

Film

Film Screening and Discussion
Sunday, March 7, 2:00 p.m.
Beverly Arts Center
2407 W. 111th Street
Gateway, directed by Alfred Werker, is the story of an Irish immigrant (Arlene Whalen) who meets a returning war correspondent (Don Ameche) on a liner bound for New York. Originally titled Ellis Island and produced in 1938 by 20th Century Fox, Gateway is an intriguing glimpse of the immigration process in the years before World War II. After the film, stay for a panel discussion on “Irish Immigration: Reel vs. Reality” with Tim Reilly, vice consul, Irish Consulate of Chicago; Mary Ann Ryan, Irish studies scholar from Chicago State University; and moderator Matt Walsh, executive director of the Beverly Area Planning Association.
Tickets are $10, $8 for members. Call the box office at (773) 445-3838 for tickets or more information.
Presented in partnership with the Beverly Arts Center’s 11th Chicago Irish Film Festival, March 5-10: beverlyartcenter.org.

Author Event

Colm Tóibín in Conversation
Wednesday, April 21, 6:00 p.m.
Chicago Public Library
Harold Washington Library Center
Cindy Pritzker Auditorium
400 S. State Street
The acclaimed author joins Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey in conversation about his life and work, writing Brooklyn and what’s next for him.

Performance

Brooklyn: On Stage and in Song
In a premier event directed by Michael Patrick Thornton, founder of The Gift Theatre in Chicago, and Lindsey Barlag of Genesis Ensemble, this performance includes Chicago actors reading from Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn, interspersed with performances from some of the best musicians of traditional Irish music in Chicago. Join us for a full 90-minute performance on April 11 (and stay for a pint) or take in a shorter, condensed performance at any of four separate additional locations.
Presented in partnership with the Irish American Heritage Center.

Full performance:

• Sunday, April 11, 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
  The Fifth Province Pub at the Irish American Heritage Center
  4626 N. Knox Avenue
  Pub open from 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Abbreviated performances:

• Wednesday, March 17, 12:00 p.m.
  Chicago Public Library
  Harold Washington Library Center
  Grand Lobby
  400 S. State Street
• Thursday, April 8, 12:00 p.m.
  Chicago Public Library
  Harold Washington Library Center
  Grand Lobby
  400 S. State Street
• Tuesday, April 13, 6:00 p.m.
  Chicago Public Library
  Mount Greenwood Branch
  11010 S. Kedzie Avenue
• Wednesday, April 28, 6:00 p.m.
  DePaul University
  John R. Cortelyou Commons Building
  2324 N. Fremont Street
  Presented in partnership with DePaul University’s Department of English.

“A Night with Eilis” at DePaul University
Monday, April 19, 6:00 p.m.
DePaul University
John R. Cortelyou Commons Building
2324 N. Fremont Street
Sponsored by DePaul University’s Department of English

• 6:00 p.m.: 1950s Fashion Showcase: What Would Eilis Wear?
  Whether she’s headed to work at Bartocci’s or to a church dance, Eilis displays her flair for fashion, which evolves as she creates her new life in Brooklyn. Designers from local vintage clothing shops contribute to this fashion showcase, which features sartorial ensembles that might have been worn by Eilis and other characters in the book.
• 6:30 p.m.: Irish Céilí Dance Performance and Instruction
  Award-winning dancers from the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance perform and teach Céilí dancing. This traditional form of Irish social dancing is a tangible link to the old country and its ways.

Panel Discussions

Leaving Home, Finding Home
Wednesday, April 7, 6:00 p.m.
DePaul University
John R. Cortelyou Commons Building
2324 N. Fremont Street
DePaul faculty scholars and creative writers James H. Murphy, James Fairhall, Liam Heneghan, Mary McCain and Patricia Monaghan consider themes of exile and new discovery of self and place. With Tóibín’s Brooklyn as a starting point, they address the work of other Irish writers and look at stories of settling and finding home in America.
Sponsored by DePaul University’s Department of English.

Being “Green” in Chicago
Tuesday, April 27, 6:00 p.m.
DePaul University
Student Center, Room 120
2250 N. Sheffield Avenue
Chicago Irish writers Mike Houlihan and Sharon Shea Bossard read from their books, Hooliganism and Finding Your Chicago Irish, and discuss the nature of family and community in relation to Tóibín’s work and to their own experiences as lifelong members of Chicago’s vibrant Irish community. As storytellers who have informed and delighted Chicagoans for years, the panelists consider how their Irish roots have influenced their personal and professional identities.
Sponsored by DePaul University’s Department of English.

DePaul University Course

Contemporary Irish Literature: Leaving Home, Finding Home
DePaul University’s Department of English offers a course dedicated to exploring literary facets of the city’s One Book, One Chicago selection. The spring 2010 English 378: “Literature and Social Engagement—Chicago’s One Book: Issues and Perspectives” is taught by James H. Murphy, a professor who teaches 19th century British and Irish literature and contemporary Irish literature and writes extensively about the history of fiction and the political history of 19th century Ireland.

The course explores the work of Colm Tóibín in the context of contemporary Irish literature. Brooklyn will be read in connection with other work by Tóibín, notably The Blackwater Lightship. Tóibín’s fiction takes its place alongside that of other recent leading Irish novelists such as Roddy Doyle, Patrick McCabe, John McGahern and Seamus Deane; playwrights Martin McDonagh, Sebastian Barry and Marina Carr; and poets Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, Derek Mahon, Eavan Boland, Paula Meehan and Paul Durcan. This 10-week course meets Mondays and Wednesdays, 11:20 a.m. – 12:50 p.m., beginning March 29, 2010.
Sponsored by DePaul University’s Department of English. This is a paid tuition-based course. For more information, go to depaul.edu/~oboc or call (773) 325-7485.

International Online Discussion

onebookonechicago.tumblr.com
For five weeks, March 29 – April 30, this online discussion forum will be open to all readers wishing to share their thoughts on various themes and topics from Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn. Presented in partnership with the Cúirt Festival of the Galway Arts Center in Ireland, this forum will bring readers from Ireland and Chicago together around this great work of literature and its very universal themes.

Programs for Teens

Teen Volume Reader’s Theatre Troupe Performance
Wednesday, April 21, 5:30 p.m.
Chicago Public Library
Harold Washington Library Center
YOUmedia
400 S. State Street
(312) 747-4780
Chicago Public Library’s Teen Volume Reader’s Theatre Troupe brings books to life in performances of adaptations from current and classic literature relating to themes found in Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín.

Teen Volume Book Discussions
Join an engaging book discussion for teens in high school, ages 14-19. Three discussions at Chicago Public Library locations will focus on Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín. Please be sure to stop by or call the branch library to sign up in advance for each discussion and pick up or reserve a copy of the book.

• Monday, April 12, 4:30 p.m.
  Thurgood Marshall Branch
• Thursday, April 15, 4:00 p.m.
  Albany Park Branch
• Thursday, April 29, 4:00 p.m.
  Harold Washington Library Center
  YOUmedia

YOUmedia and Brooklyn: Change, Choice and Alternate Endings
Chicago Public Library
Harold Washington Library Center
YOUmedia
400 S. State Street
Check website for workshop schedule: youmediachicago.org
(312) 747-4780
Life is full of stories. We are a culture that loves to watch, listen and become a part of others’ stories, often imagining ourselves in someone else’s reality. However, sometimes we get too caught up watching and not making our own stories—our own lives—compelling.

Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn is the story of a young woman with an ordinary, familiar life that changes drastically when she makes one decision and takes steps toward a very different future. As YOUmedia reads Eilis’ story in Brooklyn, we challenge you to think about the personal narrative you’re shaping right now. How might one decision change the course of your life, relationships and future? What journey will your choices take you on, and how will you make your story more than ordinary?

YOUmedia connects young adults with books, digital technologies and Chicago’s educational and cultural communities, inspiring collaboration and creativity.

Our Brooklyn series of workshops includes:

• Legacy Seekers: Discover and document your family’s history as an investigative podcaster or filmmaker.
• The Game of Life: Create an interactive reality and life experiment with Sims3 and blogging.
• My Soundtrack: Compose original music and score reflecting your present life and the choices you face daily.
• FakeBook & LieSpace: Develop an alter ego and capture their story through social media, photography and creative writing.
• In Living Color: Imagine your future as a masterpiece in the form of a graphic novel/comic or art series.