Monday, October 24, 2011

Irish poet Peter Fallon to offer November poetry reading at Goshen College

Poetry Reading: Peter Fallon
Date and time: Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.
Location: Goshen College's Newcomer Center Room 19
Cost: Free and open to the public

GOSHEN, Ind. – Irish poet Peter Fallon will offer a poetry reading in Goshen College's Newcomer Center Room 19 on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. A reception will follow the reading, during which books will be available for purchase and signing. The event is free and open to the public.

Fallon's most recent collections of poetry include "The Company of Horses" (2007) and his acclaimed translation of Virgil's "Georgics" (2004). He is also the author of "News of the World: New and Selected Poems" (1998). With Derek Mahon, he edited "The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry" (1990).

Fallon has a personal connection with Goshen College, as he has both served as the S. A. Yoder lecturer and hosted numerous groups of Goshen College students at his home in County Meath who participated in the Ireland literature and peace course taught by Emeritus Professor John Fisher.

Fallon was born in Germany in 1951 and grew up on his uncle's farm in County Meath, Ireland. He is an Honors Graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, where he was Writer Fellow in 1994. When he was 18, he founded The Gallery Press, which has since published more than 400 books of poems and plays. The Gallery Press is recognized as Ireland's pre-eminent literary publishing house and has published writers such as Seamus Heaney, Ciaran Carson and Brian Friel.

Fallon's collections of poems include "The Speaking Stones" (1978), "Winter Work" (1983), "The News and Weather" (1987), "Eye to Eye" (1982) and "The Deerfield Series: Strength of Heart" (1997). In 1993, he received the O'Shaughnessy Poetry Award from the Irish American Cultural Institute.

"Delighting in the landscape and its creatures, Fallon writes with understanding and compassion about the superstitions and misfortunes that affect a small community," wrote Poetry International. "Fallon's poetry has a deceptive simplicity and accessibility even as it affirms the values of endurance, survival and communal life."

Fallon has been a poet in residence at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts and a professor of Irish studies at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where he received an honorary doctorate. He currently lives with his family in County Meath.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College Acting News Bureau Coordinator Alysha Bergey Landis at (574) 535-7762 or alyshabl@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college's Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron's Best Buys in Education, "Colleges of Distinction," "Making a Difference College Guide" and U.S.News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" edition, which named Goshen a "least debt college." Visit www.goshen.edu.