The first Babel Public Lecture Series entitled 'Exploring the Book' will come to a close with a lecture by Dr Kate Quinn on Tuesday, 1 March, at 6.30pm at Galway City Library. The Babel Public Lecture Series consists of six lectures and is an initiative of the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, NUI Galway. The Babel Public Lecture Series began in November 2010 with the first lecture presented by Dr Nollaig Ó Muraíle, Scoil na Gaeilge at NUI Galway, entitled 'Three Great Connacht Manuscripts from circa AD 1400: the Books of Ballymote, Lecan and Uí Mhaine'. Professor Hans-Walter Schmidt-Hannisa, German, NUI Galway provided the second lecture with a discussion on strolling through the 'Library of Babel: A short history of imaginary books'. Dr Mark Stansbury's lecture, entitled 'What is a Book', explored the development of book making from earliest times to hypertext and featured exhibits of papyrus and wax tablets for the audience to examine. Professor Paolo Bartoloni provided the fourth lecture, 'Joyce's Italian Book of Choice: Svevo's Zeno's Conscience'. The fifth lecture, 'Protestants, Pedants and Presses or What do you need for a Successful Book Trade?', was presented by Dr Catherine Emerson and centred on 16th century Lyon. The final lecture in the Series is titled 'Criminal Passions: The Perennial Appeal of Death and Detection' and will be delivered by Dr Kate Quinn, Spanish, NUI Galway. The lecture is open to members of the pubic and entrance is free. According to Dr Lillis Ó Laoire, Head of the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, "Dr Kate Quinn's enticingly 'noir' title manages to mention two of the great themes, passion and death, and promises to bring the first series to an appropriately intriguing completion. Her talk will deal with crime fiction and inform us about why it is we are so drawn by books in this genre." There will be a reception before this final lecture from 6.00pm to 6.30pm. The series will be formally closed by Dr Edward Herring, Dean of the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies, NUI Galway. Further information is available from Suzanne Gilsenan at suzanne.gilsenan@nuigalway.ie or 091 494037. -Ends-