TCD Celebrates Beckett’s Centenary

Posted on: 31 March 2006

Trinity College celebrates the centenary of the birth of Samuel Beckett, one of its most famous graduates, with a major symposium, an exhibition in the Old Library and the unveiling of a memorial plaque. Beckett graduated with a first in Modern Languages from TCD in 1927 and was a lecturer in French in 1930-31. He was conferred with an Honorary Degree from the University in 1959, and in 1986 agreed to naming the new Drama Department as the Samuel Beckett Centre, in honour of his 80th birthday.

Beckett Centenary Celebrations at Trinity College Dublin:

The Beckett Centenary Symposium
5 to 9 April 2006
Samuel Beckett Centre, TCD

‘The Beckett Legacy: a Centenary Symposium’, hosted by the School of Drama, will bring eminent scholars and artists from around the world to discuss the legacy and works of one of its most famous graduates.  Keynote lecturers include Terry Eagleton, Paul Muldoon, John Rockwell and Marina Warner.  Topics of panel discussions include Beckett and Performance, Beckett and Ireland, Beckett, Religion and Philosophy and Beckett’s Legacy. 

In general, panel discussions take place at 3.00pm with lectures at 5.30pm. The Symposium also includes evening performances of music inspired by Beckett from Crash Ensemble on 6 April and a French language performance of Krapp’s Last Tape, as directed by Beckett himself in 1975, on 7 April from the famous French actor Pierre Chabert.

For further details, including information on times and fees, please contact Anna Kamaralli, kamarala@tcd.ie, (01) 608 2407 or see www.tcd.ie/Drama

‘all this this here-‘: Samuel Beckett Manuscripts at Trinity College Library

 The Long Room, Trinity College Library
 5 April – 30 June, Mon – Sat: 9.30am-5pm; Sun (April – May) 12pm-4.30pm; Sun (June) 9.30am -4.30pm

Trinity College Library marks the centenary of the birth of Samuel Beckett with an exhibition which showcases its collection of Beckett-related research materials. The exhibition focuses on the unique place Trinity College Dublin had in the life of Samuel Beckett as a student, a teacher and a patron and, using the extraordinary collection of Beckett letters and manuscripts in the Library, it also seeks to trace the development of the author’s style from the showy erudition of the young man to the hesitant precision of the mature artist.

It has been over a decade since the last major exhibition of Beckett material in Trinity College Library and in the intervening years the Library’s holdings in Beckett manuscripts and letters have grown significantly. This exhibition will provide a unique opportunity to view this new material, such as the earliest working drafts of the prose work Imagination dead imagine.

Beckett Memorial Unveiling
13 April at 12 noon

To mark the Beckett Centenary Festival and his association with the College, an inscribed stone will be unveiled by Samuel Beckett’s niece, Caroline Beckett Murphy, outside House 39 on Beckett’s birthday, Thursday 13 April at 12.00 noon. Samuel Beckett lived in House 39 from 1926-28 and 1930-31. Staff and students are invited to attend this event which will be followed by a reception.  

Jenny Holzer Projected Image
Sunday 2 April, 8.00pm – 2.00am

To celebrate the life and words of Samuel Beckett, world-renowned American artist Jenny Holzer has prepared a series of light projections that will transform the city of Dublin. One projection, featuring a moving script with excerpts from Beckett’s works will be projected on the Front Façade of Trinity College on the evening of Sunday 2 April.