About Michael Magee

Michael Magee is from Belfast. His debut novel, Close to Home, was published by Hamish Hamilton (UK) and FSG (US). It won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the John McGahern Prize, and the Nero Award for Debut Fiction. It was also named Waterstones Irish Book of the Year and has been translated into eight languages, including French, German, and Spanish.

Magee was also shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Newcomer of the Year 2023 and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year. Close to Home was shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2023, the Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize, and the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award. It was also longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Diverse Book Awards.

He is the inaugural Irish Writer-in-Residence at the University of Notre Dame, on campus for the 2025-26 academic year.

About Radvan Markus

Radvan Markus is associate professor in the Irish language and literature at Charles University, Prague. He is the author of Carnabhal na Marbh: Cré na Cille agus Litríocht an Domhain (2023), which was awarded the ACIS Prize for Books in the Irish Language, and Echoes of the Rebellion: The Year 1798 in Twentieth-Century Irish Fiction and Drama (2015). He has published widely on modern(ist) Irish-language prose and drama, focusing on the work of Pádraic Ó Conaire, Micheál Mac Liammóir, Flann O’Brien, Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Biddy Jenkinson and others. He also translates from Irish to Czech, his translation of Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Cré na Cille won the prestigious Magnesia Litera award in 2018. His current research interests include the representations of nature in Irish-language literature of all periods. Apart from his academic work, he is also an active musician, performing Irish traditional music in the band Conamara Chaos, founded in 2017.

He is the inaugural Irish Critic-in-Residence at the University of Notre Dame, on campus for the spring 2026 semester.

Originally published at irishstudies.nd.edu.

Where: Hesburgh Center Auditorium
Start Time: Apr 27, 2026 05:00PM EDT
End Time: Apr 27, 2026 06:00PM EDT

RSVP Here

Sister Damien Marie Savino joins Notre Dame Dublin and the Notre Dame - Newman Centre for Faith and Reason to discuss her new book, Learning the Language of Creation: Catholic Social Teaching and Integral Ecology.

"A vision for realizing the promise of integral ecology and putting it into practice."

In his landmark encyclical on care for creation, Laudato Si', Pope Francis popularized the idea of integral ecology by connecting contemporary ecological concerns and church teachings on creation addressed by Catholic Social Thought. In Learning the Language of Creation, Franciscan Sister Damien Marie Savino, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences, frames integral ecology as a pilgrimage guided by a process of listening and learning the language of creation.

In this book, she offers a new way of thinking about creation, human beings, and the relationship between them to realize the promise of integral ecology put into practice.

Sister Damien Marie will be joined in conversation with Mariana Silva, a PhD Candidate in Environmental Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, a Notre Dame graduate (BS Environmental Engineering, '21), a Naughton Fellow (MS Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, '22), and a member of the Newman University Church Parish Council.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase on the night.

Please note: This event will begin shortly after Taizé (6 - 7 pm), a weekly, ecumenical prayer service at Newman University Church. During Taizé style prayer, you can expect a candlelit church, meditative songs, silence, and readings. Feel free to join the community for Taizé before Sister Damien's talk.

Sister Damien Marie Savino is a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist who holds a doctorate in Civil/Environmental Engineering and masters’ degrees in theology and soil science. Her interdisciplinary research interests include integral ecology and Catholicism, theology and science, technology and faith, ecological restoration, and resilience theory.

Currently she serves as the Melchor Visiting Research Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, with a concurrent appointment in the McGrath Institute for Church Life. Sister Damien Marie is author of the 2025 book, Learning the Language of Creation: Catholic Social Teaching and Integral Ecology, available from Liturgical Press. She was also an editor and contributor to the 2023 book, Responding to the Global Pandemic as a Systemic Crisis: The Economy of Francesco as a New Paradigm. She has published and lectured widely, both nationally and internationally, on integral ecology, Laudato Si’ and creation care, the integration of science and faith, and questions of technology.

Originally published at dublin.nd.edu.

Where: Newman University Church (Dublin, Ireland)
Start Time: Apr 28, 2026 07:15PM EDT
End Time: Apr 28, 2026 08:15PM EDT

The itinerary will feature a conversation with Marcus Freeman, the Dick Corbett Head Football Coach, during dinner on the Hangang River. You will hear campus updates and participate in inspiring discussions with Michael Pippenger, Vice President and Associate Provost for Internationalization; Marcus Cole, Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law; Debra Johns, Assistant Vice President, Undergraduate Admissions; and distinguished faculty members from the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.

The weekend will bring together alumni, parents, faculty, and students for a time of inspiration and celebration. We look forward to having you join us.

Capacity for these events is limited. We kindly request that you register by April 19.

Learn more and register

Originally published at hongkong.nd.edu.

Where: Seoul, South Korea
Start Time: May 08, 2026 08:30AM EDT
End Time: May 08, 2026 08:00PM EDT

The itinerary will feature a conversation with Marcus Freeman, the Dick Corbett Head Football Coach, during dinner on the Hangang River. You will hear campus updates and participate in inspiring discussions with Michael Pippenger, Vice President and Associate Provost for Internationalization; Marcus Cole, Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law; Debra Johns, Assistant Vice President, Undergraduate Admissions; and distinguished faculty members from the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.

The weekend will bring together alumni, parents, faculty, and students for a time of inspiration and celebration. We look forward to having you join us.

Capacity for these events is limited. We kindly request that you register by April 19.

Learn more and register

Originally published at hongkong.nd.edu.

Where: Seoul, South Korea
Start Time: May 09, 2026 08:30AM EDT
End Time: May 09, 2026 08:00PM EDT

The itinerary will feature a conversation with Marcus Freeman, the Dick Corbett Head Football Coach, during dinner on the Hangang River. You will hear campus updates and participate in inspiring discussions with Michael Pippenger, Vice President and Associate Provost for Internationalization; Marcus Cole, Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law; Debra Johns, Assistant Vice President, Undergraduate Admissions; and distinguished faculty members from the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.

The weekend will bring together alumni, parents, faculty, and students for a time of inspiration and celebration. We look forward to having you join us.

Capacity for these events is limited. We kindly request that you register by April 19.

Learn more and register

Originally published at hongkong.nd.edu.

Where: Seoul, South Korea
Start Time: May 10, 2026 08:30AM EDT
End Time: May 10, 2026 08:00PM EDT