The Linen Hall proudly presents Portrait of A House, a collection of poems by the esteemed Northern Irish actor and theatre director, James Ellis. This publication, paying homage to Ellis’s childhood memories, was launched on Friday 15th March 2024, coinciding with what would have been his 93rd birthday.
In the spring of 2000, as James Ellis’s sister bid farewell to their family home of sixty years, he found himself grappling with a wave of nostalgia and creativity that inspired this heartfelt ode to the past. In Portrait of A House Ellis invites readers into the family home, where the walls resonate with stories of joy, friendship, and resilience. Through vivid imagery and heartfelt prose, he recounts the everyday lives of his family and a cast of characters who passed through their doors, leaving indelible marks on his memory.
Producer Claire Murray said about the special edition: “With the music of his childhood vividly underscoring the poetry, and always the cranes and gantries of the shipyard standing steadfast in the background, this collection is a love-letter to a vividly remembered and nostalgically-drawn Belfast childhood.”
Supported by the Arts Council for Northern Ireland, The Linen Hall has curated a special edition of Portrait of A House, with an introduction by the critically acclaimed writer and academic, Glenn Patterson, alongside a selection of rare family photographs.
As part of the book’s launch, The Linen Hall has launched a video, offering insights and reminiscences with input from Robina Ellis, James Ellis’s widow; his son, Toto Ellis; Producer Claire Murray; esteemed actors Julia Dearden, Katie Tumelty, and Adrian Dunbar; as well as Senior Lecturer in History at Northumbria University, Connal Parr. The video is now available for viewing on The Linen Hall YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR_FlefyZYo
The exclusive special edition of Portrait of A House is available for purchase at The Linen Hall.