A new class will be offered for the 2026-2027 school year at Siamsa: Introduction to English-Language Literature of Ireland!
And we have a fantastic new teacher for you to meet: Christopher Chaban.
We will let Chris introduce himself and his proposed class:
The opportunity to lead a course for Siamsa is wildly exciting to me, as I delight in teaching, and am eager to share my love of reading and unpacking literature with others. During my time at Concordia, I had the good luck to formally study a number of Irish works. I came to appreciate a corpus of dramatic pieces, in particular, that had previously been unknown to me - and some of the works I read for the first time years ago now rank among my absolute favourites. I am therefore keenly interested in presenting students with material that they might similarly take joy in discovering, and that they would be encouraged to explore more deeply.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This class will consider a range of excerpts of written works from across Irish cultural production, focusing on literary works in English, from the modern and contemporary eras (c.18th century onwards). Broadly, the course will look at works in four genres (prose, drama, poetry, and song). Rather than attempt an all-inclusive survey of Irish literature (in ten weeks!), our readings will travel through a variety of writers, sampling the Irish literary canon. Through surveying and discussion, we will consider how writers and readers frame and explore "Irishness". This course aims to provide participants with a framework and social context to speak about the texts that we read.
COURSE MATERIALS (PROVIDED)
The presented bibliography should be seen as a resource and stepping-off point for the group. Throughout the semester, we may add or modify weekly readings in keeping with the progress of discussions. This course might explore a variety of texts, such as prose by Beckett, Joyce, and Swift; poetry by Heaney, O’Riordan, and Yeats; drama by Friel, and McDonagh.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF READINGS
| Week 1 | Beginnings | Introductions, overview, & planning |
| Week 2 | Prose | Early Gaelic Lit and Colonialism: Irishness, Identity, and Character Táin Bó Cúailnge (prose translation), Swift, & Carleton |
| Week 3 | Modernists and Absurdists: Irish Literary Giants Beckett & Joyce |
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| Week 4 | Travellers and Migrants: Irish Plurality Okorie & R. McDonagh |
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| Week 5 | Drama | Comedy and Social Commentary: The Irish on a Global Stage Wilde & Beckett |
| Week 6 | Staged Interiors: Irish Personal Histories O’Casey & Friel |
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| Week 7 | Love and Madness: Extremes of Irish Sentiment Carr & M. McDonagh |
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| Week 8 | Poetry & Song | A Great and Troubled Tradition: Monuments of Irish Poetry O'Neill, Yeats, & Heaney |
| Week 9 | Sense and Song: Contemporary Irish Poets Boland, Kinsella, & O’Riordan |
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| Week 10 | More beginnings | Wrap-up & summary thought |