Media Contact: Leanne Ingle, Communications Specialist, 360-704-4508, or outside Olympia calling area: (877) 284-6237, ext. 2508; e-mail: lingle@trlib.org.

Millions of Americans regard Ireland as a type of "home" because of heritage, poetry, music, or a host of other reasons. Sean Williams, a professor of music, Asian studies, and Celtic studies, will discuss what it means to be Irish in a talk, "Ireland, Living Between Worlds," starting at 2 p.m., Saturday March 12 at the Hoquiam Timberland Library. This program is open to the public free of charge.

For the Irish, the concept of Irishness runs deeper and is more complex than what lies on the surface. At nearly every level, Williams proposes, the Irish experience their culture and their lives from a place that might be referred to as "liminal" or in between: neither here nor there. Liminality implies a type of threshold, such as you might find at the shore (neither on land nor in the sea), twilight (neither day nor night), in the lives of seals or frogs (needing both the water and the land), or at major times of transition for humans (such as birth, death, or illness).

Audience members will learn about the Irish language and how it reflects this important cultural concept, one that persists even when Irish people speak English. Through poetry and song, and aspects of history and spirituality, the topic of liminality forms a backdrop for understanding a culture in which there is no word for ownership. The conclusion of the talk will bring in aspects of immigration and ties to the homeland (which can be any country), and how the arts often perpetuate a sense of deep longing and nostalgia for what was left behind.

The Hoquiam Timberland Library is located at 420 7th Street, Hoquiam. For more information, call the library at (360) 532-1710.