Collegiate Times

As part of the Commonwealth Humanities Endowment Week, Irish speaker Eddie Kerr mixed lectures and storytelling in his multimedia performance ?Writing the Wrongs: Arts as Healing.?

Kerr traveled to Virginia Tech in order to speak to students and community members about the dynamics of Irish arts and the importance of Irish literature in the world.

?My main objective is to make the arts accessible. I also want students and community members to gain a better understanding of Irish literature. And, I hope everyone has a good night and above all are entertained,? he said.

A native of Derry City in Northern Ireland, Kerr visited Tech for the first time in 2002 as a speaker for the Commonwealth Humanities Endowment Week.

Impressed by his message and lively performance, Betty Fine - the primary organizer and chair of the department of interdisciplinary studies - asked him to return for this year's event.

?He is such a lively and entertaining speaker, I'm glad to have him again,? Fine said.

Sponsored by the department of interdisciplinary studies, the humanities program and the department of theatre arts, CHEW revolves around the goal of making arts more visible in Blacksburg by inviting influential speakers to campus. An annual event since 1999, CHEW focuses on specific themes, ranging from American Indian studies to Appalachian themes.

This year's theme: ?Art and Social Change.?

In order to enhance the audience member's understanding, Kerr divided his presentation into two parts. He dedicated the first component to a historical analysis of the Irish experience and contribution. The second contained telling Irish folk tales.

Kerr opened his presentation with a description of his homeland's landscape. According to Kerr, Ireland is a ?small, craggy rock on the west coast of Europe? with a small population. Although furnished with a smaller population, about five million, Kerr explained that the Irish maintain a dynamic population, contributing in many artistic fields.

?We may be small, but we've made a big stance in terms of arts and literature. This is what I want to celebrate. This kind of celebration shows that the Irish are proud of these contributions,? Kerr said.

Along with the good, Kerr joked about the bad. He discussed the cruel stereotypes of the Irish created in the mid-1800s, highlighting his points with caricatures drawn of the Irish immigrants in United States. The ?Irish Ape? drawings depicted the Irish as a person with a longer chin, bogging eyes and of dim-witted countenance.

The unkind parallels drawn from early history surprised the audience. ?I had no idea that ape image existed. It seems very unfair and cruel,? said senior English major Letisha Beachy. To counter these negative images, Kerr displayed a list of the four Noble Literature Prize winners and the two Nobel Peace Prize winners who call Ireland home.

?Not too bad for a nation of apes and drunkards,? he said.

Kerr then switched gears and told three interweaving Irish folk tales about a family of brothers.

His first tale involved John the fisherman and his encounters with a merman and captivated souls. John's younger brother Sean comprises the second story with his unsuccessful marriage to a woman of the sea. Kerr ended with the younger brother Timothy, a drunkard who encountered the ?Headless Coachman? on the way home from a bar.

?These stories are as true as I am standing here before you,? Kerr said.

Although some of the audience chuckled at his truth claims, his stories nonetheless amused the critical crowd.

?I really liked hearing the folk tales. It was funny hearing him go on and on about the truth, but I enjoyed the tales. I had heard of the Headless Horseman before, but I never knew the origin,? said freshman general engineering major Shannon Ethier.

The CHEW continues next week with Guy and Candie Carawan performing ?We Shall Overcome: the Sound of Social Activism? at 7pm in the Chemistry/Physics Building.