Game of Thrones author George RR Martin, Oscar-nominated director of Room Lenny Abrahamson, and the Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood are expected to visit the Historical Society (the Hist) and the Law Society (LawSoc) this year.
Margaret Atwood will be speaking to the Hist in conversation with the Co-Director of Together For Yes campaign Ailbhe Smyth on November 1, while the society has already been promoting their August 27 event with Game of Thrones author George RR Martin.
Andrew Harrop, general secretary of British socialist organisation the Fabian Society, will visit on October 3, while British journalist and author Reni Eddo-Lodge is also expected to address the Hist in October. She has written for a number of publications, including the New York Times, the Guardian and Vice, often about gender and race.
Welsh screenwriter and television producer Russell T Davies, who worked on the 2005 revival of the BBC One science fiction series Doctor Who, will address the Hist in February. Both the secretary-general of Amnesty International Kumi Naidoo and English primatologist and anthropologist known for studying chimpanzees Jane Goodall are set to address the Hist in March.
LawSoc Auditor Milly Farrell Kelly confirmed that Lenny Abrahamson and the God of Small Things novelist Arundhati Roy are expected to visit the society this year, along with other well-known and successful names.
Theodore Olson, an American lawyer, is confirmed to address LawSoc this academic year. Olson served as the solicitor general of the United States in George W. Bush as well as successfully representing George W Bush in the Supreme Court case Bush v Gore, which effectively ended the recount of the contested 2000 presidential election.
LawSoc will collaborate with Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) in hosting Cornell Brooks, a former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and a professor in the Harvard Kennedy School.
Jack Reynor, an Irish actor known for starring in What Richard Did, Sing Street, and Midsommar; actor Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, known for playing Michelle on Derry Girls; and Susan Herman, the current president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and constitutional law scholar, are all expected to address LawSoc.
Lenny Abrahamson isn’t the only guest speaker associated with Room. Emma Donoghue, the acclaimed author and screenwriter of the book and movie, is also a confirmed speaker.
Max Schrems, will be addressing LawSoc as part of a panel on Data Protection alongside David Carroll and Ravi Naik. Schrems is an Austrian author and activist known for his campaign against Facebook’s privacy violations.
Both societies are also attempting to host other high profile speakers. The Hist is currently in “detailed talks” with representatives of Jeremy Corbyn, Theresa May and Lynn Ruane, while LawSoc hopes to host Chris O’Dowd this year, among other names.
The Hist will be celebrating their 250th anniversary in March. Guests are being invited and coordinated by Mary Robinson, former Uchtarán na hÉireann, and David O’Sullivan, former ambassador of the EU to the US, in their capacities as vice-presidents of the Hist. Professor David McConnell, pro-chancellor of Trinity and president of the Hist, is overseeing the celebrations.
Luke Fehily, Hist Auditor, told Trinity News: “We’re delighted to host such preeminent guests in our 250th session. The Hist has long facilitated discussion on campus and this year we aim to bring the world leaders in politics, economics, philosophy, literature, and entertainment to our members. Many of our most prestigious guests will be appearing in March 2020 to mark the culmination of the 250th celebrations so keep an eye out for those announcements.”
Earlier, the Phil announced their confirmed guest speakers, which include Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, former Trump White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci and former gubernatorial candidate for New York Cynthia Nixon.
