Literary Conferences on Flann O'Brien + Edgar Allan Poe Taking Place in Boston this Week

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(April 6, 2022) --  Two literary conferences on distinctive authors born a century apart are being held in Boston, Massachusetts this week that highlight the work of two literary giants: writers Flann O'Brien and Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849).  

O'Brien, who also wrote under his real name, Brian O'Nolan (1911-1966) as well as the pen name Myles na gCopaleen, was born in Strabane, County Tyrone and spent most of his career in Dublin.   Poe was born in Boston, while his father  David Poe emigrated here from Dring in the Parish of  Kildallon in County Cavan.  The two places in the Ulster Province are about 70 miles apart. 


Flann O'Brien 6th International Conference, April 6-9, 2022 

Boston College is hosting the Flann O’Brien 6th International Conference, an eclectic gathering of specialists, academics, writers and pundits devoted to the work of Dublin writer Brian O’Nolan, whose pen names included Flann O’Brien and Myles na gCopaleen. 

 The conference, titled Flannagain in Far Amurikey, is being hosted by BC’s Irish Studies Program and the Institute for Liberal Arts. 

Among the speakers, according to Boston College: “there’s world-famous author Kevin Barry, and public intellectual Fintan O’Toole. There’s Irish Times columnist Frank McNally and literary critic Catherine Flynn, as well as author and editor Maebh Long.” 

 Here is a list of keynote speakers.

The John J. Burns Library at Boston College has an important Flann O’Brien Collection, consisting of O’Brien’s manuscripts and his personal library.  

5th International Edgar Allan Poe Conference, April 7-10 

Hosted by the Poe Studies Association, The 5th International Edgar Allan Poe Conference takes place at the Omni Parker House in downtown Boston. 

 The conference, titled Poe Takes Boston, this year has a hybrid format, allowing presenters and members to attend either in person at the Omni Parker House Hotel or online. 

The Guest of Honor and keynote speaker is Marilynne Robinson, who has taught at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Humanities Medal, and the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. She is the author of five remarkable novels: Housekeeping (1980), Gilead (2004), Home (2008), Lila (2014), and Jack (2020), as well as various works of nonfiction, including a keen appreciation of Edgar Allan Poe.

In 2014, a statue of Poe was placed in near Boston Common in downtown Boston, not far from where he was born on January 19, 1809.   

For more about Irish heritage and culture in Boston, visit IrishBoston.org. 




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