Author Frank Delaney is not the type of person who needs to prove his intelligence.
With his white, slicked-back hair, oval tortoise shell glasses and sharp suit (elbow patches included), he immediately strikes anyone who sees him as a man of wisdom.
On Wednesday night, he shared some of that wisdom to a lucky audience on the fifth floor of Norlin Library in the Center for British and Irish Studies.
Delaney has spent his life in a multitude of different careers. Originally a television broadcaster, Delaney spent the 1970s as a correspondent for the BBC in Dublin.
From there he worked on his own show “Bookshelf” for the BBC Radio Four, where he interviewed authors such as Stephen King and Margaret Atwood.
Delaney’s writing career began when he published “James Joyce’s Odyssey,” a nonfiction book. Since then, he has written five nonfiction books, as well as ten novels. His novels include bestsellers “Ireland, A Novel,” “Tipperary, A Novel,” “Shannon, A Novel” and his newest book “Veneita Kelly’s Traveling Show.”
The topic of the evening was Delaney’s writing career, specifically his writings about Ireland. Almost all of Delaney’s works focus on Ireland and to him it seemed like a natural subject to write about.
“Writing about Ireland is like writing about home,” Delaney said.
Growing up in the small village of Tippery, Ireland, Delaney was very affected by Irish culture. The time that he spent away from his hometown affected him deeply, he said, and was a major source of inspiration for his books.
“I would imagine that most creative writing is about home, especially in exile,” Delaney said. “In order to understand what your material is, you have to give it a distance.”
The crowd consisted of a variety of members from the community, and the talk was overall very well received. Delaney’s versatility was admired by his fans, both new and old.
“Frank is able to bridge the gap between scholarship, as a New York Times bestselling author, and performance as a broadcaster,” said Delaney’s wife, Diane Meier.
The Center for British and Irish Studies said they were thrilled to have Delaney there as well.
Gabrielle Dietrich, the 29-year-old assistant to the director and doctoral student in choral conducting, said she was pleased to work on the project.
“This event is important because it helped us get the entire community involved,” Dietrich said. “This has been a fabulous experience and we’re really lucky to have him here.”
Contact CU Independent Writer Matt Glassett at Matthew.glassett@colorado.edu.
