This presentation will explore a collaborative initiative, between Maynooth University and Kildare Public Library and Arts Service to host an exhibition of a Unique and Distinctive Collection in Athy Community Library.
In 2011, Sister Majella McCarron (OLA) donated a collection of letters and poem she received from Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa to Maynooth University. The letters were written from military detention and smuggled out in breadbaskets. Saro-Wiwa had been leading a peaceful protest against the environmental destruction of his homeland Ogoni, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, by the international petrochemical industry. Despite the efforts of Sister Majella and global protest Saro-Wiwa and eight colleagues (The Ogoni 9) were executed in 1995.
While Maynooth University has exhibited material from the Ken Saro-Wiwa Archive in the University and at Quinnipiac University in the United States, this is the first time the archive has been exhibited in a public library. The presentation will cover a number of aspects including:
This is an exciting partnership and will be of interest to those keen to make Unique and Distinctive Collections (UDCs) available to the public.