On Feb. 12-13, acclaimed Irish author Claire Keegan visited Kingswood Oxford as this year’s Symposium author. During her time, she had dinner with the Symposium class and faculty, spoke at Upper School and Middle School assemblies, and shared lunch with students.
Chosen by English teacher Daniel Gleason, Ms. Keegan’s works span different topics, ideas, and writing styles. “I would describe them as spare and politically charged,” Dr. Gleason said. “Spare doesn’t just mean limited, but rather richly ambiguous. There are many details that are important and interact with each other in a rich way.”
Ms. Keegan has written two novellas, “Foster” (2010) and “Small Things Like These” (2021), and three short story collections: “Antarctica” (1999), “Walk the Blue Fields” (2007), and “So Late in The Day: Stories of Men and Women” (2023). Ms. Keegan has won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was nominated for the prestigious Booker Prize as well. Both “Foster” and “Small Things Like These” have been adapted into movies.
Symposium is one of KO’s richest signature programs. It was started by English teacher and Department Chair Warren Baird in 1983 when he convinced novelist E.L. Doctorow to visit KO for a day. Doctorow’s inaugural visit was so successful that it led to the creation and support of a yearly program. In 1987, KO committed a senior English elective dedicated to studying all of the visiting author’s works. The program, initiated by Mr. Baird has since allowed KO to bring in a variety of storytellers and its legacy looms in the halls of Seaverns, where every Symposium author’s print is displayed. This year, KO was proud to welcome Ms. Keegan to campus and to learn more about her writing style and story inspiration.
In the weeks leading up to Ms. Keegan’s visit, the Symposium students visited English classes in both the Upper and Middle School to present their insights and talk about some of her works. The Symposium students also worked on independent projects that were Keegan-inspired. For example, students wrote short stories in a style similar to Claire Keegan, wrote continuations to her novellas, made their own playlists, designed a recipe book, created Keegan-inspired artwork, and much more!
On Thursday night, the Symposium class gathered in Alumni Hall to have dinner with Ms. Keegan, an annual tradition that the Symposium class looked forward to. Ms. Keegan moved around from table to table to discuss a variety of topics with students. “Having dinner with Claire Keegan was a very memorable experience and a highlight of my senior year,” senior Symposium student Alex Gumkowski said. “It was surprising to hear her opinions on the movie adaptations to her works. I learned that she didn’t like ‘A Quiet Girl’ and never saw ‘Small Things Like These.’”
Senior Juliana Chipelo also enjoyed the dinner. “I loved talking to her about literature,” Juliana said. “She takes a lot of inspiration from the classics, so it was really interesting to hear how these books affect her works.” Finally, English teacher Catherine Schieffelin, who also attended the dinner, loved the atmosphere. “I was struck by how warm and personal she was with everyone she interacted with,” Ms. Schieffelin commented. “I expected her to be a more private person, but she had a sharp sense of humor and thoughtfulness to her.”
The Symposium students concluded the dinner with a game of Pictionary featuring topics and characters from Ms. Keegan’s works, a fun way to end the evening while connecting to themes and people in Ms. Keegan’s writing.
Before the Symposium assembly on Friday, the Symposium students participated in a writing workshop with Ms. Keegan, which showed students a different side of her personality. Despite being known as an author, Ms. Keegan is also a passionate creative writing teacher. In this workshop, Ms. Keegan focused on fiction and her opinion about how fiction is created. Specifically, she explained the importance of tension and loss, rather than conflict and drama in fiction. “It was rewarding to see the students engage with the lesson,” Dr. Gleason said. “A lot of us were impressed by Claire Keegans’s firm views and fierceness as a writer.” Throughout the workshop, Ms. Keegan constantly used demonstrations and graphs about the cycles through a story in fiction. She used napkins on the ground to demonstrate how fiction slowly pulls the reader in and lets them settle into the story.
After the workshop, the entire Upper School gathered in Roberts Theater for Ms. Keegan’s assembly. The assembly was opened by Head of the English Department Chair William Martino, who spoke about the growth of the Symposium program and the dedication that the students have to Ms. Keegan’s works. “It’s a testament to KO’s commitment to intellectual curiosity, literary scholarship, and the power of storytelling,” Mr. Martino said. He then invited seniors Hadley Hersh and Shreya Adlakha to introduce Ms. Keegan. They spoke about Ms. Keegan’s educational background and about their favorite parts of her writing style.
Ms. Keegan began her speech to the Upper School by reading a pivotal moment of her novella “Foster.” She read from the middle of the novella, where we see the changes in the girl’s behavior as a result of living with the Kinsellas. However, that moment also shows other details that add further layers and tension to the novella.
Her interactive reading helped highlight the tension and subtle character development throughout the chapter. “I was able to appreciate ‘Foster’ more through hearing her read it. Nothing beats an Irish accent!” Ms. Schieffelin said. “The way that she captured different voices allowed the tension to come to life even more vividly in the story.”
She then took questions from audience members on a variety of topics. Junior Alex Ndiaye was the first to ask. “I asked her about whether she had any personal connections to the stories,” Alex N. said. “I was intrigued by the cultural connections and references she uses.” Ms. Keegan answered other questions about her works but also her personal interests. For example, Alex N. later asked Ms. Keegan if she had any other hobbies besides writing to which she talked about her love for animals. “Her Q&A was interesting as she was fun, witty, and honest with the students,” Dr. Gleason said.
Thank you to Dr. Gleason, Mr. Martino, the Symposium students, and everyone else involved in bringing Claire Keegan to campus as the 43rd Baird Symposium author! Her visit will be remembered for years to come, and we look forward to the continued growth of the Symposium program at KO!
