Carcanet book launch online: Eavan Boland’s The Historians

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
Poet Eavan Boland
Poet Eavan Boland. Photo courtesy Carcanet Press.

11 November 2020 Tickets from £2 — Book now

Manchester-based Carcanet Press continues its programme of online book events broadcast live via Zoom, with this very special event to celebrate the launch of the final collection of poetry from Irish poet Eavan Boland, who died earlier this year.

The evening will be hosted by poet and academic, John McAuliffe, who will be joined by Eavan Boland’s UK publisher, Michael Schmidt, founder and managing director of Carcanet, plus one of the leading authorities on her poetry, Jody Allen-Randolph. There will be special guest readings from Maureen Kennelly of Arts Council Ireland and writer Colm Tóibín, previously of the Centre for New Writing at the University of Manchester.

Eavan Boland’s career spanned nearly 60 years, making her one of the foremost female voices in Irish literature.

Born in Dublin in 1944, Eavan Boland’s career spanned nearly 60 years, making her one of the foremost female voices in Irish literature. Known for her ability to weave myth, history and the life of an ordinary woman into ‘mesmerizing poetry’, she published numerous collections of poetry and, in 1995, a prose memoir, Object Lessons. Boland’s New Collected Poems, incorporating work from her previous books, was published in 2008 to glowing reviews, and her later collections include A Poet’s Dublin and A Woman Without a Country (both 2014). She taught at Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and Bowdoin College in the US, and she was a Professor at Stanford University in California. She received many awards, including a Lannan Foundation Award in Poetry and an American Ireland Fund Literary Award.

The Carcanet website describes her final volume, The Historians, as: “A forceful and moving final volume from one of the most masterful poets of the twentieth century […] the culmination of her signature themes, exploring the ways in which the hidden, sometimes all-but-erased stories of women’s lives can powerfully revise our sense of the past. These extraordinary, intimate narratives cling to the future through memory, anger, and love in ways that rebuke the official record we call history.”

As is usual for Carcanet online events, extracts of the text will be shown during the reading so that audience members can read along, and they will also have the opportunity to put forward their own questions. Registration for this online event is £2, later redeemable against the cost of the book, available direct from Carcanet at a special price – attendees will receive the discount code and details of how to order during and after the event. Please note that there is a limited number of places for the reading, so do book early to avoid disappointment.

Eavan Boland: The Historians
Eavan Boland: The Historians

11 November 2020 Tickets from £2 Book now

Where to go near Carcanet book launch online: Eavan Boland’s The Historians

Symmetry Room
City Centre
Museum
Museum of Illusions

Museum of Illusions Manchester is part of the global Museum of Illusions Group, the largest and fastest-growing chain of private museums in the world.

Tropical World logo
Leeds
Tourist Attraction
Tropical World

At Tropical World, families can enjoy a fun-filled and educational day out. Start your epic journey in the Butterfly House, where exotic butterflies fly freely through our swampy mangrove, fluttering

Manchester
Restaurant
Soap Street Pizza

Based at Nordie in Levenshulme, Soap Street Pizza put out the perfect pie: crispy base and inspired toppings.

Wellington Place
Leeds
Event venue
Wellington Place

Wellington Place is a brand new business park in Leeds, with multi-use spaces and a varied programme of events from street food to art shows.

Carden Park
Cheshire
Hotel
Carden Park

Huge luxury estate, featuring high-end restaurant, beautiful rooms, a fully-packed spa and much more.

What's on: Literature

Katharine Towers
LiteratureManchester
Poets & Players at Burgess Foundation

Poets & Players is a must-go for lovers of words and music, presenting poets established and emerging, with the latest readers Katharine Towers, Sascha Akhtar and Victoria Gatehouse.

free entry
Tom Branfoot. Photo Eleanor Hall, Museum of the Home
LiteratureWest Yorkshire
Poetry at the Dusty Miller

Poetry at the Dusty Miller is a now regular night with invited readers, organised by Carcanet-published Carola Luther and Judith Willson in the Coiners’ Room in the Mytholmroyd pub.

free entry

Culture Guides

Sextile
Music in the North

Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring. 

A woman sits in a car with hands holding the steering wheel.
Cinema in the North

Vintage Alfred Hitchcock and a family friendly film festival are amongst our highlights this May.

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Tours and Activities in the North

We've got many a good time in store this month as we round up the best walking tours, cultural classes and makers markets in the land.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Dynamic dance, party-performance, high-energy stand-up and a site-specific show set in a pub. All this and more in our newest theatre guide.

Okechukwu Nzelu
Literature Events in the North

If it's inspiring, inclusive events and avant-garde, experimental afternoons you're after, look no further than live literature this spring – we've got you covered.