ILHS, Elizabeth Drew on Samuel Beckett

Irish Literary & Historical Society Speaker Series • May 21

Elizabeth Drew on Samuel Beckett

Trinity PhD scholar,  will speak on the presence of Ireland in the writings of Nobel Laureate Samuel Beckett.

Samuel Beckett, one of the most acclaimed writers of the 20th century, was born in Foxrock, Co. Dublin in 1904. He completed his undergraduate degree at Trinity College, Dublin, spent a decade traveling and working in Europe, and then settled in France for more than five decades. Most of his literary works were composed in French and self-translated into English. Although Beckett left Ireland, Ireland never left him. His relationship with the country of his birth was complicated, but its landscape, clim ate, and people were a continual presence in his work until his death. His ruminations on and dramatizations of memory, self, and consciousness are frequently set in the foothills of the Dublin mountains, along the sweep of Killiney Bay, and in the social vernacular of Irish life. This lecture will follow the trajectory of Beckett’s work from his early adulthood in Dublin through his last writings, tracing the presence of his homeland throughout. It will offer some guidance for the casual reader to explore, and hopefully enjoy, Beckett’s works, which are frequently labeled as bleak, enigmatic, and difficult.

Dr. Elizabeth Drew lived, studied, and worked in Ireland for seven years. Her master’s dissertation on Samuel Beckett’s poetry and her PhD on cognitive science and complexity in Beckett’s late prose were both completed at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. She is an independent scholar and stay-at-home mom living in San Francisco, California.

May 23, 5pm – United Irish Cultural Center 2700 45th Ave, San Francisco
ILHS members free, visitors $5, reception follows.