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Please join us for an afternoon of presentations and discussion reflecting on the Housewife of the Year and taking a critical and creative look at the evolving role of women in the domestic sphere on the island of Ireland.

The event will involve a mix of formal talks and informal discussions and will include artist Rachel Fallon and a conversation with the Housewife of the Year 1972 winner Jane Kelly, both of whom we are delighted to welcome to Queen’s. The event will culminate in a poetry reading on the topic of ‘home’, presented by creative writing students at the Seamus Heaney Centre.

Our schedule is as follows:

1.00-3.00 Session 1: Framing the Housewife of the Year

Gemma Carney, ‘From ‘Butterwomen’ to Farmers’ Wives and Exotic Dancers: The Hardy Housewives of Twentieth-century Ireland’,

Shonagh Hill, ‘Housewives over the Years: Mid-Twentieth Century Irish Feminisms’,

Trish McTighe, ‘Revisiting the Homely-sexuals: Framing Difficult Cultural Objects’,

Artist respondent: Rachel Fallon.

3.00-3.30 Coffee break

3.30-5.00 Session 2: In-conversation with Jane Kelly, winner of the 1972 Housewife of the Year Competition,

Chaired by Gemma Carney

5.00 Food and wine reception

The event will culminate in SHC Presents… HOME a poetry reading on the topic of ‘home’, presented by creative writing students at the Seamus Heaney Centre, starting at 7pm in the Brian Friel Theatre, 20 University Square. Please note that these are separately ticketed events; to book a place at the SHC event, please use the following link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shc-presents-home-tickets-633959338447

This event is a collaboration between the School of Arts, English and Languages, the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work and the Seamus Heaney Centre at QUB. The symposium is the second in a series of Critical Domesticities events led by Shonagh Hill and Trish McTighe at QUB School of Arts, English and Languages. This year they are joined by gerontologist Gemma Carney (Ark Ageing Programme, QUB School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work).

This public event is funded with support from the School of Arts, English and Languages and the ESRC Impact acceleration fund and Queen’s Policy engagement.