Isothermal Community College in Columbus will present an evening of Irish verse and storytelling with Dr. Dennis Sommers Friday, March 11, at 7 p.m.

The program will feature discussion, readings and recitations of works by some of Ireland’s most famous writers including William Butler Yeats, Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, James Joyce, Patrick Kavanagh, James Clarence Mangan, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Samuel Beckett, Seamus Heaney and others.

The ancient Irish/Gaelic mythologies and folklore will also be discussed including stories about the Tuatha de Danaan (the first inhabitants of earth who were forced underground and are still believed to inhabit the west of Ireland), the Firbolgs, the Druids, Pukas, Faeries, Shape-shifters and Banshees, along with the life and works of St. Patrick himself who for six years lived among the ancient Celts.

Dr. Sommers is the author of six books and numerous articles. He has been the director of the Institute of Irish History and Culture’s International Summer School at Trinity College, Dublin for the past 14 years and has lectured at universities, heritage and cultural societies in both the United States and Europe. He is an elected member of the United Arts Club of Dublin and has received the Kilkenny Cultural Award. In the United States he is an elected member of the National Social Science Honor Society.

The event is free and open to the public. More information is available at 828-894-3092.