James Michelin Distinguished Visitors Program

Ciaran Carson has written many books of poetry, translation, and prose. His most recent book is From Elsewhere, translations of the work of the French poet Jean Follain, paired with his own "spins" on the translations. Carson has won several literary awards, including the Forward Prize and the T S Eliot Prize. He holds the Seamus Heaney Chair of Poetry at Queen's University Belfast and is a traditional flute player. He is a member of Aosdána, the affiliation of Irish artists, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Deirdre Carson initially learned the fiddle from her father, Paddy Shannon, and has been influenced by the fiddle styles of Sligo and Leitrim. She and Ciaran have been making music together for some 40 years. Together they will be exploring the aisling tradition through poetry and music.

This reading is made possible through the support of the James Michelin Distinguished Visitors Program established at Caltech in 1992 to foster "creative interaction between science and the arts."