Conference on Irish writer Flann O'Brien
| 20. Juli 2011
Flann O'Brien is most famous for his pieces "At Swim-Two-Birds" and "The Third Policeman" and his anarchic newspaper column "Cruiskeen Lawn". (Photo: The Irish Times)
On the occasion of his centenary year, the Department of English and the Irish Embassy are organising an international Flann O'Brien Conference.
One of the keynote speakers is Austrian filmmaker Kurt Palm whose "In Schwimmen-Zwei-Vögel" remains the only full-length film adaptation of Flann's novels to date. (Photo: Michaela Mandel)
The conference will be accompanied by creative projects, presented within the 'Fringe Flann' arts programme. Photo: Former guest professor Gerry Smyth and David Llewellyn in their new stage adaptation of the writings of Flann O'Brien, to be performed on July 24. (Photo: Andrew Sherlock)
2011 would have been the 100th birthday of Flann O'Brien – born Brian O'Nolan – who, alongside Joyce and Beckett, makes up the so-called "holy trinity" of modern Irish writers and is most famous for his masterpieces "At Swim-Two-Birds" and "The Third Policeman". On the occasion of his centenary year, the Department of English and the Irish Embassy are organising "100 Myles: The International Flann O'Brien Centenary Conference" between July 24-27. Lectures by renowned authors, filmmakers, and Flann O'Brien experts, and various panels exploring O'Brien's work and legacy are accompanied by reading events, film screenings, an art exhibition and performances.
"Austria has a rich tradition of adapting the work of Flann O'Brien", Werner Huber of the Department of English Studies says, referring to Kurt Palm's film "In Schwimmen-Zwei-Vögel" and various theatrical adaptations. Beyond his two most famous novels ("At Swim-Two-Birds" and "The Third Policeman"), O'Brien left a wealth of writing, among others, "An Béal Bocht" ("The Poor Mouth") – a novel in the Irish language –, a satirical column "Cruiskeen Lawn" (published in the Irish Times newspaper under the pseudonym Myles na gCopaleen), a final series of novels ("The Hard Life", The Dalkey Archive", and the unfinished "Slattery's Sago Saga") as well as theatre plays, short stories, and TV and radio scripts.
"For a long time the consensus on Flann O’Brien consisted of two myths: that after his first two masterpieces his career was ruined by journalism and drink, and that his influence rarely extends beyond Irish shores. With his conference we wanted to challenge both of these notions, and given that we will be hosting experts and fans from all over the world speaking on his full body of work, I think we’ll be successful in unsettling a few preconceptions", explains Paul Fagan, one of the organisers of the conference, who is currently working on his doctoral thesis at the Department of English. "Furthermore, holding such a large international centenary conference in Vienna encourages us to take stock of how O'Brien's legacy has been shaped, particularly in comparison to his exiled, and significantly more canonised compatriots Joyce and Beckett", adds Ruben Borg, who is co-organising the conference from the Department of English in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Keynote speakers: From the Irish poet to the Austrian filmmaker
Keynote addresses will be given by a group of writers, academics, columnists, translators, theatre directors, and filmmakers who share the common thread of working with, and adapting, O'Brien’s texts in a myriad of complementary ways. Starting on Monday, 25 July, Keith Hopper will speak about "'A Thing of Triads': Reading and Re-Reading Flann O'Brien". Hopper teaches Literature and Film Studies at the University of Oxford and St. Clare's College, Oxford, and has published "Flann O'Brien: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Post-Modernist". The keynote on Tuesday, 26 July, will be provided by Frank McNally, who will address O'Brien's journalistic work. McNally is a columnist and journalist for "The Irish Times", where his popular "An Irishman's Diary" – "Cruiskeen Lawn's" learned and literary heir – is published daily.
Further keynote speakers are celebrated Irish poet, novelist, and critic Anthony Cronin ("Flann O’Brien and Myles: Compartmentalised Modernism", 27 July), who, as a personal friend of O’Brien’s and his biographer, was an integral part of the post-war Dublin literary scene, which he chronicled in "Dead As Doornails" (1976); the Austrian author and director for theatre and film Kurt Palm, who adapted O'Brien's "At Swim-Two-Birds" for stage and film; and Harry Rowohlt, German writer, translator and columnist known for his "Pooh's Corner" column in "Die Zeit", who has translated all of O'Brien’s major works into German. Furthermore, more than 40 international experts will hold lectures in panels such as "Media Cultures", "Identity Politics", "Writing Processes", and "Metafictional Stategies".
'Fringe Flann' arts programme
The conference will be accompanied by a wide range of creative projects, presented within the 'Fringe Flann' arts programme. On Sunday, 24 July, the art exhibition "Myles Away From Illustration: The Influence of Flann O'Brien on Visual Art" will be launched. Performances such as "The Brother", starring former Irish Studies guest professor Gerry Smyth, and "The Science of Flann O'Brien", several readings (Julian Gough, Roger Boylan, David Wheatley), film screenings ("John Duffy's Brother", "The Martyr's Crown", "Babble") and music (instrumental cuttings and remixes from Ergo Phizmiz's forthcoming opera "The Third Policeman") are all part of the programme. (dh)
100 Myles: the International Flann O'Brien Centenary Conference
Sunday, 24 – Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Department of English, Campus of the University of Vienna, courtyard 8
Spitalgasse 2-4, 1090 Vienna
Further details and programme
