Ireland in Words & Music

March 18, 2025
12:00pm - 1:00pm

In celebration of Saint Patrick's Day and Irish Heritage Month, internationally published writer from Huntington, Laura Treacy Bentley, will share poetry from her book, "Looking for Ireland: An Irish-Appalachian Pilgrimage," while Pittsburgh-based violinist Charles May mixes in performances of Irish songs, many of which appear in his book, "Minced Gaelic: 101 Original Fiddle Tunes and Their Stories," using his distinctive style: a fusion of classical and folk. The multimedia program will also feature photographs from Laura’s travels in Ireland, and a few special surprises.

Laura Treacy Bentley is an internationally published writer who was born in Hagerstown, Maryland. She has lived most of her life in Huntington, West Virginia, and divides her time between West Virginia and a cabin in Western Maryland. Laura is the author of a poetry collection, Lake Effect, a psychological thriller set in Ireland, The Silver Tattoo, a picture book, Sir Grace and the Big Blizzard, and a poetry/photography chapbook, Looking for Ireland: An Irish-Appalachian Pilgrimage. She received a Fellowship Award for Literature from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts, and her work has been featured on the websites of A Prairie Home Companion, Poetry Daily, O Magazine, and Publishers Weekly. She served as the writer in residence for three years at the Marshall University Writing Project and taught creative writing at the 2013 West Virginia Governor's School for the Arts at Davis & Elkins College. Her work has been published in the United States and Ireland in journals such as The New York Quarterly, Art Times, Poetry Ireland Review, Antietam Review, Rosebud, blink, Ginseng, Wind, The Stinging Fly, Kestrel, ABZ, Crannog, Now & Then, 3x10 plus, The New York Quarterly, Art Times, The Southern Poetry Anthology, Still, Goldenseal, and The Windward Review, among many others, including a number of anthologies. One of her poems is featured on a poster published by the Greenbank Observatory in Pocahontas County and another poem was displayed in a city bus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Laura read with Ray Bradbury in 2003 and signed her books with Nora Roberts at her Turn the Page Bookstore in 2017. Her second novel, Glass Mountain, is a suspense/thriller forthcoming from Henlo Press in 2025.

CHARLES MAY, violinist, began studying traditional classical violin at age eight while growing up among a family of folk musicians. His rich and vibrant musical background led to a fusion of classical and folk music as he performs both as a solo strolling violinist and an orchestral musician. Charles found a calling in composing and recording his own music, and to date has composed 200 original fiddle tunes and songs, published two volumes of these works and recorded four CDs. He loves sharing his music with audiences around the Pittsburgh area and continues to explore the styles of Scottish, Irish, Folk Classical and popular music in his Opus all while maintaining a career as a technologist in the financial service industry.

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"Lunch With Books" is the library’s flagship program for adult patrons. These lunchtime programs feature authors, poets, musicians, historians, and more every Tuesday at noon. Bring lunch (to the Library Auditorium or your computer), feed your brain!