PEOPLE'S UNIVERSITY: Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups - Class 5: Celtic Fairy Tales

March 17, 2022
7:00pm - 8:30pm

INSTRUCTOR & STORYTELLER: Alan Irvine, Professional Pittsburgh-based Storyteller

For years, Alan's ghost stories and humorous tales have kept people huddled close to the campfire. In time, his repertoire of stories grew to include folk tales and legends, Irish and Celtic tales, Pennsylvania history, tales of King Arthur and other heroes, Shakespeare and more. Alan tells his tales at many diverse venues including libraries, schools, colleges, and festivals. He was a Commonwealth Speaker for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council for many years. He has appeared at Renaissance Festivals, Irish Festivals, and science fiction conferences. Alan also leads walking tours of Pittsburgh. He works with Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks, where he tells stories of Shakespeare's plays, as well as hosting the popular Bring Your Own Bard reading series. He is the co-founder of Brawling Bard Theater, a troupe specializing in high-energy comedy and stage combat. Alan writes and directs for the company.

Class starts at 7:00 pm in the Library Auditorium. This program will be available to watch live on Facebook Live, on YouTube, and on the OCPL website's People's University: Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups.  Log into your Facebook or YouTube account during the program to leave questions for Alan in the comments box. He will answer them during the live broadcast. 

People's University: Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups
For the Winter session 2022, People's University at the Ohio County Public  Library will offer a series on the origins of familiar fairy tales. Patrons are invited to gather around the campfire beneath a canopy of stars and planets to travel back in time to the early days of human story sharing for six Thursday evening sessions starting February 17 at 7 PM.

How are these stories different?
Most of us consider fairy tales to be stories for children, innocent and without real evil or harm. But what's lesser known is that most fairy tales were originally written for adults — and were much more grim and gruesome than those of our childhood. Many of the fairy tales that are still retold today date back to the 17th century and earlier. Favorites like Beauty And The Beast and Rumpelstiltskin are at least 4,000 years old. As these tales were passed down from one century to the next, they were often altered to remove some of the more ghastly and frightening elements, making them more appropriate for a younger audience. However, when we delve back into the fairy tales of our childhood as adults, we can rediscover our heroes and princesses from a different perspective. These often disturbing yet enchanting tales can still yield useful lessons about life for us grown-ups when we take a deeper look at these stories.

All programs in this series are free and open to the public. Each program in this series will feature a campfire along with other special effects. In addition to our normal beverages, hot chocolate will also be available.

PLEASE NOTE: This series is not for children! This series is most definitely Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups only.

CLASS SCHEDULE:
Class 1: Feb. 17 — "The Tale of Tales" — Instructor: Nancy Canepa; Music: West Liberty University West African Drums and Dancers; Storyteller: Vince Marshall, "The Ogre"
Class 2: Feb. 24 — "Toward a Theory of the Fairy Tale as a Literary Genre" — Instructor: Dr. Jack Zipes; Storyteller: Don Feenerty, "Hansel And Gretel"
Class 3: Mar. 3 — "Appalachian Fairy Tales" — Instructor & Storyteller: Bil Lepp
Class 4: Mar. 10 — "Bringing the Fairy Tale Back to the Horror Realm" — Instructor: Dr. Jessica R. McCort; Storyteller: TBA
Class 5: Mar. 17 — "Celtic Fairy Tales" — Instructor & Storyteller: Alan Irvine
Class 6: Mar. 24 — Puppetry Finale  — Instructors: Irene Alby, Professor of Acting and Directing, and Mary McClung, Professor of Costume Design and Puppetry, both from the School of Theatre and Dance at West Virginia University; Storytellers: WVU School of Theatre and Dance, "Three Little Pigs" and Aesop’s Fables

FEATURED BOOK:
Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend & Folklore,  compiled and edited by Claire Booss. (Crown Publishers, 1986)
[Reserve a copy from the Library  |  Purchase a copy online through bookshop.org to support local book stores or visit indiebound.org to find Ireland's Ghosts, Legends, and Lore in a bookstore near you.  |  Purchase online through Amazon ]

Introduce yourself to the noble heroes and magical creatures of Irish mythology. Includes the two definitive works on the subject by the giants of the Irish Renaissance. Inlcudes W.B. Yeates' Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry and Lady Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne.

Read about the Trooping Fairies, Solitary Fairies, Changelings, The Merrow, Ghosts, Witches, Fairy Doctors, Tyeer-Na-N-Oge, Saints, Priests, The Devil, Giants, Kings, Queens, Princesses, Earls, and Robbers, among other tales.

➤ View all books available at the Library about Irish Fairy Tales
➤ View ebooks available at the through WVDeli about Irish Fairy Tales
➤ View ebooks available at the through Hoopla about Irish Fairy Tales

➤ View books available at the Library about the history and literary dissection of Fairy Tales 
➤ View ebooks available at the through WVDeli about the history and literary dissection of Fairy Tales
➤ View ebooks available at the through Hoopla about the history and literary dissection of Fairy Tales

- People's University Online-
Thursdays from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm on YouTube Live and Facebook Live

Subscribe to the People's University Youtube channel or like us on the People's University Facebook page or to receive notifications of our upcoming People's U broadcasts. To receive emails about our upcoming programs, visit our News page, click the "Subscribe" button to sign-up for our news blasts or download our free OCPL Connect app from your smartphone's app store. 

ABOUT THE OCPL'S PEOPLE'S UNIVERSITY SERIES:

In 1951, the Ohio County Public Library's librarian, Virginia Ebeling, referenced British historian Thomas Carlyle, who said, “the public library is a People’s University,” when she initiated a new adult education program with that name. Miss Ebeling charged the library with the responsibility of reaching “as many people in the community as possible.” In keeping with that tradition of public libraries as sanctuaries of free learning for all people, the Ohio County Public Library revived the series in 2010.

The People’s University features courses (taught by experts in each subject) that enable patrons to pursue their goal of lifelong learning in classic subjects such as history, music appreciation, philosophy, and literature. Patrons may attend as many classes as they wish. There are no tests of other requirements and all programs are free and open to the public. For more information about PU: Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups, EMAIL US,  visit ohiocountylibrary.org or call the library at 304-232-0244.