Colm Tóibín

Libby Lewis Photography

Literary Arts Icon

Literary Arts

Colm Tóibín

Past Event: Monday, November 3, 2014

At Town Hall Seattle—The Great Hall

I think fiction lends itself to messiness rather than the ideal, and plays well with the ironies surrounding what happens versus what should happen.

— Colm Tóibín

They’re grand storytellers, these Irish, and when he’s at his best, Mrs. Tóibín’s boy Colm is the equal of any of them.

— Kirkus Reviews

Colm Tóibín is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic and poet.

He is currently also a professor at Columbia University. Among many other honors, he has been shortlisted three times for the Man Booker Prize. His work explores Irish society, living abroad, and matters of personal identity. His new novel, Nora Webster, will be published in October 2014.  His 2010 novel, Brooklyn, is currently being made into a film, with a script by Nick Hornby. Tóibín will be speaking to the SAL audience on the Irish Literary Renaissance.

Toibin’s Patron Reception will have nibbles generously donated by Shanik Restaurant.

Selected Works:

Fiction
The Testament of Mary (2012) – short-listed for the Booker Prize
The Empty Family (2010)
Brooklyn (2009) – winner of the Costa Novel of the Year
Mothers and Sons (2006)
The Master (2004) – LA Times Novel of the Year, shortlisted for the Booker Prize
The Blackwater Lightship (1999) – shortlisted for the Booker Prize
The Story of the Night (1996) – winner of the Ferro-Grumley Prize
The Heather Blazing (1992) – winner of the Encore Award
The South (1990) – shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel, winner of the Irish Times/Aer Lingus First Fiction Award

Non-Fiction
New Ways to Kill Your Mother (2012)
A Guest at the Feast (2011)
All a Novelist Needs (2010)
The Use of Reason (2006)
Lady Gregory’s Toothbrush (2002)
Love in a Dark Time: Gay Lives from Wilde to Almodóvar (2002)
The Sign of the Cross: Travels in Catholic Europe (1994)
Bad Blood: A Walk Along the Irish Border (1994)
Dubliners (1990)
Homage to Barcelona (1990)
The Trial of the Generals: selected journalism, 1980-1990 (1990)
Martyrs and Metaphors, Letters from the New Island, vol. 1 no. 2 (1987)
Walking Along the Border (1987)

Plays
Beauty in a Broken Place (2004)

Links

Colm Toibin in Conversation
The Guardian: Colm Tóibín, novelist – portrait of the artist
The New York Times: His Irish Diaspora
Exclusive Interview: Colm Toibin Talks About His New Story Collection
Kirkus Reviews: Mothers and Sons

Event Details

Town Hall Seattle—The Great Hall

1119 8th Ave
Seattle, WA 98101

View directions.

Transportation & Parking

Town Hall Seattle is centrally located at 1119 8th Ave, on the corner of 8th and Seneca. Their venue is served by frequent bus routes, is near access to light rail stations, and close to a number of parking options nearby. Please see their website for more details.

Accessibility

Open Captioning is an option for people who have hearing losses, where a captioning screen displaying the words that are spoken or sung is placed on stage. To make a request for open captioning, please contact us at boxoffice@lectures.org or 206.621.2230×10. Please note: for in-person events at Town Hall Seattle, we appreciate a two-week advance notice to allow us time to secure captioning services. 

Closed Captioning is an option for people who have hearing loss, where captioning displays the words that are spoken or sung at the bottom of the video for online events. Captioning is available for all online events; click the “CC” button to view captions during the event.

Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) are devices that people with hearing loss use in conjunction with their hearing device (hearing aids or cochlear implants). Town Hall Seattle has a hearing loop system, so you can switch your T-coil hearing aid to telecoil to have the stage’s microphones transmitted directly to your hearing aids. To pick up a headset, check in with any Town Hall usher when you arrive.

Sign Language Interpretation is available upon request for Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard of hearing individuals. To make a request for interpretation, please contact us at boxoffice@lectures.org or 206.621.2230×10, or select “Sign Language Interpretation” from the Accessibility section during your ticket checkout process and we will contact you to confirm details. Please note: we appreciate a two-week advance notice to allow us time to secure interpretation.

Wheelchair Accessible Seating and Accessible Restrooms are available in all sections at Town Hall Seattle, which is fully accessible to ticket holders with physical mobility concerns. Town Hall Seattle recommends that visitors use the 8th Avenue Entrance for events in the Great Hall, and elevators with Braille signage go to all levels within the Hall. The venue has all-gender, ADA-accessible restrooms on the lobby and Forum level. To reserve seating for a specific mobility concern, please contact us at boxoffice@lectures.org or 206.621.2230×10, or select “Wheelchair Accessible or Alternative Seating Options” during ticket checkout, and we will contact you to confirm details. For more details on accessibility features at Town Hall, click here.

Guide and service dogs are welcome.

All-gender restrooms are available.

We are pleased to offer these accessibility services at our venues, and they are provided at no additional cost to ticket holders. Please contact us with any questions and feedback about how we can be more accessible and inclusive. Our Patron Services Manager is available at boxoffice@lectures.org, or Tuesday-Friday, from 12 noon–5 p.m., at 206.621.2230×10.

For more accessibility information, please head to lectures.org/accessibility. If you would like to make accessibility arrangements you do not see listed here, please contact our box office or select “Other Accommodations” from the Accessibility section during your ticket checkout process, and we will contact you to confirm details.

Seating Chart