KINGSTON, R.I. — January 8, 1999 — The University of Rhode Island, in collaboration with the National University of Ireland, Galway and the Young Writers Institute, are collaborating on the administration of the acclaimed 1999 Aran Islands International Poetry and Prose Festival. Dr. Robert Carothers, president of URI, will be among many URI alumni and fellow Rhode Islanders attending the festival. The festival was conceived by Daniel E. Doyle Jr., founder and executive director of URI’s Institute for International Sport, and author of the novel, “Are You Watching, Adolph Rupp?” Doyle is serving as chair of the festival. The festival will take place from August 14 – 21 in Galway and on the Aran Islands. Readers for the festival include some of the most honored writers of this generation, including Pulitzer Prize Winners Rita Dove, William Kennedy, Galway Kinnell, Frank McCourt and William Styron, along with 1998 National Book Prize Winner Alice McDermott; current U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky; famed Chinese Dissident Poet Xue Di, Michael Onjaatje, author of The English Patient, and Joyce Carol Oates, who is considered by many to be one of the finest authors of this century. Some of Ireland’s most honored authors will also read. The group includes: Nuala Ni Dhomnaill, Roddy Doyle, Cathal O. Searcaigh, Hugo Hamilton, John Montague, Edna O’Brien, Mary O’Malley, Tim Pat Coogan, Ciaran Carson and Eamon Grennan. Well-known American authors who will also read include Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, Patricia Smith, Mark Doty, and Rose Styron. Famed Chilean author Marjorie Agosin is also among the readers. Only 200 American and Canadian travelers will be afforded the opportunity to attend the festival. URI, as one of the collaborators, has been provided with a block of reserved spaces. These spaces will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The tour package of $1,965 includes round-trip airfare from Boston or New York, all accommodations at the Corrib Village at the National University of Ireland, Galway, six breakfasts, two dinners, the Aran Islands “Cookout”, and all readings and lectures. A special lecture series on Yeats, Synge, and Joyce will be delivered by three faculty members of the National University of Ireland, Galway. “The Aran Islands International Poetry and Prose Festival has the makings of being the most prestigious literary gathering in the world in ’99,” said President Carothers. We are delighted to be associated with it and I hope many URI graduates will join me in Ireland.” For information on this unique opportunity to travel to Ireland with Dr. Carothers, contact Joel Young at 1-401-874