Dates: 31 January 2026; 7 February 2026; 14 February 2026; 28 February 2026; 21 March 2026; 28 March 2026; 11 April 2026; 18 April 2026.
Time: 11.00 am – 12.30 pm
Location: French Dept. Library, Room 4096, Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin.
Admission is free. But please note, places are limited to 15 per talk and reservations should be made beforehand to ensure a place. To do so and for further information, please email James Harpur at harpurja@tcd.ie
James Harpur, Visiting Writer (Poetry and Non-Fiction) in the Trinity Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies (TCMRS), will present ‘Saturday Salon, Coffee and Culture’, a series of eight illustrated talks on the works, lives and influences of poets, saints and mystics. Combining history, myth, poetry and spiritual traditions, the talks will be informal but focused, with time for comment and discussion afterwards. Coffee will be available before and after the talk.
Schedule for the Dr John Dee Talks Hilary Term 2026 - Salon, Coffee and Culture
- 31 January 2026: ‘What Mystery Pervades a Well!’: water as a sacred mystery, or a secular dumping ground?
- 07 February 2026: ‘Becket’s Glassy Bones’: does sacred art lead to God or distract us from him? Two approaches to art, life, and the divine.
- 14 February 2026: ‘Drinking at the Fountains’: reflections on the Muse and the magical imagination and whether they are still central to art.
- 28 February 2026: ‘The Lost, or Last, Messiah?’: An introduction to the extraordinary life of J Krishnamurti, his teachings and Theosophy.
- 21 March 2026: The Wind Bloweth Where it Listeth: waiting for divine guidance through the spirit, oracles and dreams.
- 28 March 2026: Polycarp’s Bones: the story of Christian pilgrimage and the cult of relics.
- 11 April 2026: Slaughter of the Innocents: can sacred vision and the poetic imagination stop the felling of ancient and locally beloved trees?
- 18 April 2026: Yeats’s ‘The Wanderings of Oisin’: mythic saga, allegory, or shamanic initiation poem?
This annual series of talks explores cultural, religious and historical themes in the spirit of the research interests of the TCMRS and the guest lecturer. The series is named after the Elizabethan polymath, Dr John Dee, mathematician, classical scholar, astronomer, astrologer, navigator, alchemist and magician, who became an adviser of Elizabeth I (founder of Trinity College) and bridged the worlds of Medieval and Renaissance thought. He was also a bibliophile and scholar whose personal library was said to be the largest private collection of books in England.
For 2025-2026, James Harpur, Visiting Writer (Poetry and Non-Fiction) and Visiting Research Fellow of the TCMRS, presents ‘The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth’ in the Michaelmas Term; and ‘Saturday Salon, Coffee & Culture’ for the Hilary Term. These illustrated talks focus on the works, lives and influences of poets, saints and mystics and related themes. Each talk will last for about 45-50 minutes, with time for questions. They will be aimed not only at scholars but at anyone interested in poetry, art, spirituality, imagination and ultimate truth.
James Harpur read Classics and English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, and has published ten books of poetry, including his latest, The Magic Theatre, The Gospel of Gargoyle and A Place Where Ireland Is Invisible. His awards include the British National Poetry Competition and the Michael Hartnett Prize. His debut novel, The Pathless Country, won the JG Farrell Award and was shortlisted for the John McGahern Prize. His translations include the poems of Boethius (Fortune’s Prisoner, Anvil Press 2007) and ongoing work on the poems of Pierre de Ronsard. He is a member of Aosdána, the Irish academy of the arts, and a Fellow of the Temenos Academy, London. He lives in West Cork.
For further information on this talk please email Professor Sarah Alyn Stacey at SALYNSTA@tcd.ie.