An exhibition exploring the life and work of the Belfast authors Forrest Reid (1875-1947) and Stephen Gilbert (1912-2010) is on display on Floor 1 of the McClay Library until the end of September.
Reid published widely, and won the James Tait Black memorial prize for his novel Young Tom in 1944. E M Forster, who valued Reid’s work highly, referred to him as the ‘most important man in Belfast’.
Gilbert’s most acclaimed work ‘Ratman’s Notebooks’, has been adapted for the Hollywood screen twice, as the horror film ‘Willard’.
There is a wealth of material within the personal papers of these two authors, and the exhibition highlights the breadth and colourful detail of their archives (which are held at Special Collections in the McClay Library). Of particular importance are the items of correspondence within the collections which comprise letters from such literary figures as E M Forster, Walter de la Mare, AE, and Padraic Colum, as well as letters between Gilbert and Reid themselves.
The exhibition includes some artifacts from the archives and an illustrated display exploring the lives and literary themes of the two authors.
An illustrated booklet, produced by the library, is available here http://tinyurl.com/36ynpxc