Award-winning Irish writer to give reading at SJU Pottery Studio

Award-winning author Áine Greaney will be coming to the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University for the seventh annual Visiting Author event.

Greaney, a Boston-based Irish writer, will have a conversation and reading from her novel, "Dance Lessons," at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 30, at the SJU Pottery Studio. There will be a buffet with hors d'oeuvres and beverages.

Her visit is also the second event in a recent CSB/SJU tradition honoring S. Colman O'Connell, OSB, former president of CSB. The goal is to introduce a writer to the CSB/SJU community who complements an Irish theme in both culture and the arts, and CSB/SJU associate professor of music J. David Arnott will enhance the day's theme with traditional Irish music on the violin.

Greaney's most recent novel "Dance Lessons" (2011) is a contemporary novel set in rural Ireland and greater Boston. The book examines the lives of three women, and the relationships and solitude in their lives with a small seaside village in Ireland as the setting.

"Dance Lessons" was shortlisted for the Rubery International Book Award (United Kingdom), selected as a Top Ten Irish Summer Read by Irish Central, won second place in the literary fiction category of the IndieLit awards and was one of 20 books chosen by the Women's National Book Association for National Reading Group Month.

Greaney's non-fiction essays and fiction have appeared in publications such as The Boston Globe Magazine, Forbes Women as well as international publications. Greaney's essays have also been broadcast on National Public Radio Boston. She has won several awards for her work as well, including her essay "Green Card," which was selected as a "notable" in the "Best American Essays 2013," along wither her essay "Sanctuary," which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2013.   

The event is sponsored by the Saint John's University Chair in Critical Thinking and Saint John's Pottery Studio, and co-sponsored by the Department of English at CSB/SJU and CSB's Literary Arts Institute.