Past Events 

(2024-2023)​

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Friday, Nov. 22 - Sunday, Nov. 24  Irish Arts Center’s 15th Annual PoetryFest Friday 8 p.m. special guests and festival poets share their favorite Irish verses ($25 includes after party; other events free, but reservations recommended); Saturday 2 p.m. Declan Ryan and Maggie Millner, 3:30 Nuar Alsadir and Fran Lock, 5 p.m. Leontia Flynn and Henri Cole; Sunday 1 p.m. John Kelly and Ishion Hutchinson, 2:30 Shane McCrae and Vona Groarke read poems they would bring to a deserted island, 4 p.m. Shane McCrae and Vona Groarke. 726 11th Avenue at 51st Street. Book tickets at 888-616-0274 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday or at IrishArtsCenter.org/Event/15th-Annual-PoetryFest.

2025.​​​​​

 

Tuesday, November 19, 7 p.m. “The Pot of Broth” The Westbeth Artists Residence Council presents another of their evenings with Yeats, a reading of this one-act comic play with Terence Burk, Beth Griffith, Joel Rooks; presented by Alison Armstrong. At Westbeth Artist Housing community room, 55 Bethune Street. Free.​

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Tuesday, October 29, 7:30 p.m. "Swift & Yeats: in their own words," a short dramatic reading with Joel Rooks as Jonathan Swift, Sean Gormley as William Butler Yeats, and Alison Armstrong as Referee. The two writers, born about 200 years apart in Dublin, scuffle verbally and comically, despite attempts to referee them. Followed by a wine & cheese reception. In the West Village at Westbeth Artist Housing community room, 55 Bethune Street, at the corner of Washington Street. (Wheelchair accessible also through courtyard at 155 Bank Street.) Suggested contribution $10.​​

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Sunday, October 6, 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. – “A Walking Tour of the Yeatses in New York City.” Society president, Andrew McGowan, was our guide. The walk highlighted where WB, his father John Butler Yeats, their patron John Quinn, and the artists John Sloan and Robert Henri, friends of the senior Yeats, stalked the East and West 20s of Manhattan. Stops included the National Arts Club, the 69th Regiment Armory (site of the famous “1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art," more commonly known as “The Armory Show,” which Quinn played a major part in), the NY State Appellate Courthouse in Rose Hill, and Madison Park. ​Along the route, participants viewed related news stories and photos, among which was the rooming house where JBY lived for some 15 years until his death, and where Sloan painted him presiding at dinner in “Yeats at Petitpas.” This free member event was also offered to academics attending the American Conference for Irish Studies over the weekend at Baruch College. The tour ended with a visit to the nearby Oscar Wilde Irish pub and restaurant.

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February 1, 2024: Yeats vs Shaw’s 'John Bull’s Other Island'

FREE program, followed by optional reception ($15, cash or check only, at the door). Arts Alliance of Resident Theatres (A.R.T.)

520 Eighth Ave. (between 36th/37th Sts.), third floor.

 

This joint program with the Gingold Theatrical Group features David Staller, GTC artistic director, who will lead a lively discussion about “John Bull’s Other Island,” one of Shaw's most rollicking comedies and his only 'Irish' play. Yeats commissioned Shaw to write a play to open the Abbey Theatre in 1904, but rejected it, claiming its approach to “The Irish Question” was far too comedic. Shaw then had Harley Granville Parker produce and star in the play at London's Royal Court Theatre, where it was praised for its ironic lampooning of the British Empire and the empire’s failure to address socio-political issues regarding Ireland. At a Royal Command Performance for King Edward VII, he is reported to have laughed so hard he broke his chair. Themes of the play include the struggle for a Free Ireland, colonialism, women's rights, sexuality, class systems, and education. Here’s a link to read it: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3612/3612-h/3612-h.htm. Shaw and Yeats, two brilliant Irishmen determined to use their artistic voice for the greater good, remained jovial friends in spite of their different visions of art in our world.​​

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​December 4, 6 p.m.: 2023 Holiday Party at Wolfe Tone’s Pub, 37 East 29th Street, just west of Park Avenue South. Music was by Gabriel Donohue, including some of his settings of Yeats poems. 

 

November 13, 2023, 4:30 p.m.: Visit to the New York Public Library’s Berg Collection, which houses major material related to Yeats and his circle. 

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June 13, 2023, 6-9 p.m.: Celebration of Yeats's 158th birthday at Irish Literary Dinner. 

For the good are always the merry/Save by an evil chance. 

At Wolfe Tone’s Yeatsiana-decorated Irish Pub and Kitchen, 37 East 29th Street, just west of Park Avenue South. Yeats-Inspired Joseph Daniel Sobol and his band played songs from his “In the Deep Heart’s Core: A Mystical Cabaret,” described by The Chicago Sun-Times as “a rapturous weave of the irresistible sounds of Irish music and the steely but lyrical magic” of Yeats.

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Saturday, May 20, 2023, 10AM-5PM, "A Taste of the Yeats Summer School.” All-day program evoking the spirit of the annual school in Ireland. Included a social and summer school reunion. Speakers were Alison Armstrong on “Cuala, Dun Emer, Dolmen: Arts & Crafts with the Yeats Sisters”; Joseph Hassett on “Quotable Yeats – the Foam and the Deep,” about Yeats lines that not only capture a thought suitable for a particular life occasion, but also open the door to a deeper understanding of his poetry; staged reading of Mr. Hassett’s short play, "Wandering Stars," a revealing conversation between Yeats and James Joyce; short video talk by Mark C. Conner “The Ireland of W.B. Yeats"; and a guide to visiting the Yeats International Summer School, Sligo, and other places famously associated with the poet. At NYU Glucksman Ireland House.

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April 27, 2023, 6:30 p.m. Readings marking Poetry Month & presentation of the Yeats Poetry Prizes: See Awards section of this website for names of 2023 winners, previous reciipients, and judge's report. Held at Barnes & Noble Union Square.

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January 26, 2023, "Hooley" a Craic-ling Success: Yeats Society members and friends happily ate and drank for three hours while listening eagerly s-inspired, Irish-fired poetry and song in what can only be described as the best belated year-end literary society bash in town. Held at Flanagan's Pub on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, it featured the exceptional talents of our great friend of many years, internationally known Irish singer and instrumentalist, Gabriel Donohue, and of two of his gifted professional colleagues, fiddler Heather Bixler, and Irish-born singer, songwriter, and model, Cathy Maguire. The trio channeled Ireland's warmth and beauty and, most importantly, the memory and legacy of our namesake, WB Yeats. Actress Andrea D'Arcy Mead read "In Memory of Eva Gore Booth and Constance Markievicz," and "The Stolen Child."

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