BRAM STOKER’S journey from Dublin to literary immortality is to be explored in a new exhibition at the Irish Cultural Center and McClelland Library in Phoenix, Arizona.
Due to open in autumn 2027, the exhibition will bring together objects associated with the Irish author, interactive displays and recreations of the Dublin he knew.
Developed with the support of the Stoker Estate, it will examine the experiences and relationships that shaped a writer whose most famous creation has sometimes overshadowed his own story.
Bram Stoker (Pic: public domain)Organisers say the exhibition will feature artefacts never previously displayed together as a collection. Design firm NeoPangea has been commissioned to help create it.
Stoker’s great-grandnephew, Dacre Stoker, said the centre’s interest in the author’s wider life had persuaded him to become involved.
“What intrigued me about this project was the Irish Cultural Center and McClelland Library’s desire to tell the whole story of my great granduncle,” he said.
“They wanted to explore the experiences, relationships, and influences that shaped Bram, both as a man and as a writer.”
Born in Clontarf, Co. Dublin, on November 8, 1847, Abraham ‘Bram’ Stoker was the third of seven children. At Trinity College Dublin he distinguished himself as an athlete, an achievement that remained a source of pride throughout his life.
His interests extended well beyond fiction. He worked as a theatre critic before moving to London, where in 1878 he became business manager of the Lyceum Theatre, beginning his long professional association with actor Henry Irving.
Alongside that demanding career, Stoker wrote novels, short stories and non-fiction. His circle included Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle and Mark Twain.
Dr Amanda Hofmann-Handy, executive director of the Phoenix centre, said the exhibition would explore the author’s work beyond Dracula, alongside his sporting life and theatre career.
The exhibition is expected to remain in Phoenix for nearly a year before becoming a touring show available to other institutions.
Stoker died in London on April 20, 1912, and his ashes rest at Golders Green Crematorium. More than a century later, the planned exhibition will give visitors a chance to meet the Dubliner behind the count.
Further information: azirish.org/bram-stoker-exhibit/
Everything from irishpost.com and the print edition is available on the Irish Post App — plus more! Download it for Android or Apple IOS devices today.
See More: Bram Stoker, Dracula, Dublin, Halloween
