Brown Bag Biography with Dr. Pádraic Whyte

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The Center for Biographical Research presents: / “Padraic Colum to Aikāne: Ireland, Hawai‘i, and Retelling Myths for Children”/ Dr. Pádraic Whyte, Associate Professor, School of English, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland / In 1923 Irish author Padraic Colum, at the invitation of the Hawaiian Legend and Folklore Commission, spent three months in Hawai‘i researching the myths, legends, history, and folklore of the islands. This resulted in three volumes of Tales and Legends of Hawaii for children, published by Yale University Press. This lecture explores the circumstances and the controversy surrounding Colum’s visit and his retellings, as well as the author’s connections with figures such as WJ Coelho, Martha Beckwith, Juliette May Fraser, Theodore Kelsey, and others. The lecture also considers the connections between Ireland and Hawai‘i in recent retellings of myths and legends for children. / Pádraic Whyte is associate professor in children’s literature and a director of the Children’s Literature MPhil programme at the School of English, Trinity College Dublin. He is currently a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, researching the relationship between Ireland and Hawai‘i in terms of storytelling and identities in children’s literature. / Cosponsored by Hamilton Library, the Center for Oral History, Conflict and Peace Specialist, and the Departments of American Studies, English, Ethnic Studies, History, and Political Science / Thursday, March 14 / Kuykendall 410 / 12PM to 1:15PM HST

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Center for Biographical Research, Mānoa Campus

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