Frank Shovlin (University of Liverpool) will deliver the 2024 Hibernian Lecture, “Like a Prayer: The Novels of John McGahern,” in 215–16 McKenna Hall at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 26, 2024.
One of the most acclaimed Irish writers of the second half of the 20th century, John McGahern (1934–2006) authored six novels. His final novel, That They May Face the Rising Sun, was named the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year in 2003 and adapted into a 2023 film of the same name. Shovlin’s lecture will contextualize the political and social networks into which McGahern was born and explore religious aspects of his work as a writer.
The 2024 Hibernian Lecture is cosponsored by the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies.
About the speaker
Frank Shovlin is professor of Irish literature in English at the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies. A native of the west of Ireland, he is a graduate of University College Galway and the University of Oxford. Shovlin is the author of numerous articles and book chapters as well as four monographs: The Irish Literary Periodical 1923–1958 (2004); Journey Westward: Joyce, Dubliners and the Literary Revival (2012); Touchstones: John McGahern's Classical Style (2016); and John McGahern's Dublin (2021). He edited The Letters of John McGahern (2022), and is currently writing McGahern’s authorized biography.
In 1978, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians undertook a campaign to establish an endowment at the University of Notre Dame for illuminating the Irish heritage in America. Thanks to their support, since then the Cushwa Center has administered a variety of programs—including the Hibernian Research Award—supporting the study of the Irish experience in Ireland and America. Each year, the center invites a distinguished scholar or author to deliver the Hibernian Lecture at Notre Dame on some aspect of the Irish experience.
Image: John McGahern and his siblings on the Feast of Corpus Christi, circa 1946.
Note: Hasia Diner (New York University) had previously been scheduled to deliver the 2024 Hibernian Lecture on the subject of her latest book, Opening Doors: The Unlikely Alliance Between the Irish and the Jews in America. The Cushwa Center is working to reschedule Diner’s visit and lecture at Notre Dame. For updates on upcoming events and other news, sign up at cushwa.nd.edu/subscribe.