The Irish Famine and American Immigration THIS LECTURE IS FULL

In 1846, the potato blight struck Europe, but no nation suffered the devastation seen in Ireland. An estimated 1.5 million Irish men, women, and children fled the island. While most Americans know that the potato famine brought scores of Irish to our shores, the depth of the horrors are often glossed over. Katherine Parr, Ph.D., has written about the Great Famine and the women who protested Ireland’s colonial government. Writing under the pen name Katherine Kirby Smith, Katherine will share her research and some of her historical novel about the period.

Biography

Katherine Parr has a doctorate in English from Northern Illinois University. She taught writing at the University of Illinois-Chicago. In 2021, she and her husband moved to Tellico Village where she joined the Authors Guild of Tennessee. In conjunction with the Guild, she participates in a writers’ critique group that meets twice a month in the Village.

Katherine’s historical novel, Eva of the Nation, arose from her dissertation. Katherine also published a book on writing, Grammar and Style: Navigating the Bewildering World of Writing. Recently, she published a children’s book about her West Highland Terrier, Charlie Bear. She writes as Katherine Kirby Smith (K.K. Smith).