- Source: Desmond Egan
Desmond Egan (born 15 July 1936 in Athlone, County Westmeath) is an Irish poet. He has published 24 Collections of poetry and published translations of Sophocles' Philoctetes and Euripides' Medea. His own work has been translated into Albanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Swedish, Chinese, Spanish, Slovenian and Russian. He founded The Goldsmith Press (1972), edited the quarterly magazine for the arts Era (1974-1984), and starting in 1987 he has served as artistic director of the Gerard Manley Hopkins International Festival each July in Kildare, Ireland.
Life
Egan was born in Athlone in the Irish midlands. His parents were Thomas Egan, businessman and National School teacher Kathleen Garland. He attended St Finian's College in Mullingar, then University at St Patrick's College, Maynooth (now Maynooth University), where he obtained his BA (1962), and University College Dublin, where he obtained his MA (1965). He returned to his old school St Finian’s (1965-1971) to teach Greek, then taught English at Newbridge College, County Kildare. He settled in Newbridge and gave up teaching in 1987 to focus on writing as a career. He is married to the writer Vivienne Abbot. They have two daughters, Kate and Bebhin. Egan is fluent in Irish and speaks/reads French, German and Spanish. Also proficient in Classical Greek.
Collections
1972. Midland, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press. With drawings by Brian Bourke
1972. Poiemata, Readings in Poetry and Prose for Young People, chosen by Egan, Rice. Dublin: Fallons
1973 Choice, An anthology of Irish poetry selected by the poets themselves. Edited by Desmond Egan and Michael Hartnett, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press
1974 Leaves, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press. With drawings by Charles Cullen
1976 Siege, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press
1978 Woodcutter, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press. Illustrations by Alberto Giacometti
1980 Athlone?, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press. With photographs by Fergus Bourke
1983 Seeing Double, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press. With illustrations by Alex Sadkowsky
1983 Collected Poems, Orono, Maine, NPF. Winner of The National Poetry Foundation of USA Award
1989 A Song for my Father, Newbridge, Ireland: The Kavanagh Press
1990 The Death of Metaphor, essays, Gerrard's Cross, England: Colin Smythe
1991 Medea, translation of Euripides. St. Andrew's Press, Laurinburg, USA
1992 Peninsula, Poems of the Dingle Peninsula. Newbridge, Ireland: The Kavanagh Press. With Photographs by Liam Lyons
1992 Snapdragon, Little Rock, Arkansas: Milestone Press
1992 Selected Poems, Omaha, Nebraska: Creighton University Press. Selected and with Introduction by Hugh Kenner
1994 Poems for Eimear, Limited Edition. Little Rock, Arkansas. Milestone Press
1994 In the Holocaust of Autumn A sequence in nine parts; Foreword by Ben Briscoe. Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press
1995 Elegies, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press
1997 Famine, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press. With drawings by James McKenna
1998 Philoctetes, translation of Sophocles. Little Rock, Arkansas: Milestone Press, USA
1999 Prelude: A Sequence of Poems for Hans Pålsson, Pianist. Limited ed., Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press
2000 Music, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press
2001 The Hill of Allen, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press. With drawings by James McKenna
2005 The Outdoor Light, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press
2009 The Bronze Horseman, Essays, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press
2012 Hopkins in Kildare, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press
2015 Epic, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press
2017 Hopeful Hopkins, Essays, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press
2024 "Laptop," Poems, Newbridge, Ireland: The Goldsmith Press
Anthologies
Eva Hesse, Lyrik Importe, ein Lesebuch, Aachen: Rimbuad, 2004
Hunderose: Neue Irische Gedichte, Augsburg: Maroverlag, 1983
Wenzell (ed.), Woven Shades of Green: Irish Nature Literature, Lewisburg: Bucknell Press, 2019
Koesu / Sekine (eds.), Irish Writers and Politics, Gerrads Cross: Colin Smythe, 1989
Gunnar Harding, Bengt Jangfeldt (eds.), Artes, 3, Stockholm,1997
Robert Welch (ed.) Irish Writers and Religion, Maryland: Barnes & Noble, 1992
J-Y Masson (ed.), Anthologie de la Poesie irlandaise du XXe siecle, Paris: Verdier, 1996
ThomasFoster Elizabeth Guthrioen(eds.), A Year in Poetry, New York: Crown Publishers, 1995
Juri Talvet (ed.) Valitud tolkeluulet Anthology II (1970-2020), Tartu: Ulikool, 2022
DVDs / CDs
CD: Needing the Sea, Goldsmith Press, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, 1995. John Hunter/Jim Kelly, Directors
DVD: Desmond Egan; Through the Eyes of a Poet, Washburn University and KTWU, Kansas
Books in translation
French
Terre et Paix 1989 tr. Patrick Rafroidi, Daniel Jacquin et al.
Holocauste d’Autumne 1998 tr. Jean Poncet
Peninsula 1996 tr.Jean Paul Blot
Elegies 2000 Bruno Gaurier
Music et Autres Poemes 2005 tr. Jean Paul Blot (Prix du livres Insulaires, 2005)
Athlone 2015 tr. Bruno Gaurier
Famine 2018 tr. Bruno Gaurier
Irish
Mo Rogha tr. Michael Hartnett, edited by Diarmuid Johnson, 2022
German
Meine Geschichte der Irischen Dichtung/ My Irish Poems 1995 tr. S.Kohl; M. Pfister et al.
Gedichte/ Poems 1999 tr. U. Borgmann/ S. Kohl
Dutch
Echobogen/ Echo Arches 1990 tr. P Nijmeijer
Russian
Selected Poems 1999 tr. Alla Savtchenko, Maria Popova
Poems 2000 tr. Alla Savtchenko
Italian
Quel Sole Storno Che Gelido Passa 1992 translator Giuseppe Serpillo
Poesie Scelte/ Selected Poems 1994 tr. Francesco Marroni
Carestia/ Famine 2000 tr. Donatella Abbate Badin
Un Poeta di Irlanda 1990 tr. Enzo Bonventre
Spanish
De Hambruna/ Famine 2002 tr. Marcus Hormiga
Czech
Smiluj nad Basnikem/ Have Mercy on the Poet 1992 tr. Ivana Bozdechová
DESpectrum (CD included) Poems and appreciations 2002 /2007 tr. Ivana Bozdechová
Chinese
September Dandelion 2008 tr. Jin Wenning
Polish
Poezje Wybrane/ Selected Poems 2002 tr. Aleksandra Kedzierska
Japanese
Paper Cranes 1995 tr. Akira Yasukawa et al.
Greek
Poiemata/ Poems 2001 tr. Georgia Ghinis
Selected Poems tr. Despina Pirketti 2024
Greek Cypriot
Choice, translated by Despina Pirketti 2022
Croatian
Christ in Connaught Street 2009 tr. Emil Cic
Elegies 2018 tr. Nikola Duretic
Hungarian
Selected Poems 2000 tr. Tomas Kabdebo
Bulgarian
Selected Poems 1999 tr. D. Paryeba
Slovenian
Too Little Peace/ Selected Poems 2007 tr. Robert Simonisek
Swedish
How Lonely the Soul tr. Lena Koster 2019
Selected Poems tr. Lena Koster forthcoming 2022
Romanian
Black Windows, Selected Poems tr. Emilia Ivancu forthcoming 2022
Editor
Poiemata Poetry and Prose for Young People 1972
Focus (with Eoghan O Tuairisc) 1972
Choice An Anthology of Modern Irish Poetry with Michael Hartnett 1973
The Deserted Village edited, with Introduction 1974, reprinted 1977
Brian Bourke: Marcel Marceau Drawings Introduction 1978
Brian Bourke: a Catalogue of his Work, editor 1982
Lost in the Woods Introduction,1992
James McKenna; A Celebration ed. with Introduction 2007
James McKenna The Complete Catalogue ed. with Introduction 2008
Review editor
Era Magazine 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 1975 to 1978
Poster poems
Requiem Illustrated by Charles Cullen
Listening to John McCormack Illustrated by Charles Cullen
Needing the Sea Illustrated by Alex Sadkowski
Brother Sister Chile Illustrated by Kathy Owens
For Benjamin Moloise Illustrated by James McKenna
First Communion
For Rudy Romano Illustrated by Henry Flanagan
Understanding God Too Quickly In Topeka Illustrated by John Hunter
For Bill Langdon Illustrated by Wilhelm Fockersperger
Freedom Illustrated by Wilhelm Fockersperger
Newbridge College
Peace illustrated by Brian Bourke
Forget Me Not
Requiem illus. by James McKenna 2018
Awards
1983: Stanford Poetry Award 1983
1983: National Poetry Foundation of USA Award for Collected Poems
1987: Chicago Haymarket Literary Award
1989: The Farrell Prize, New York
1996: Honorary D.Litt. from Washburn University, Kansas, USA
1998: Bologna Literary Award, Italy
2001: Premio Anfiosso Literary Award (Italy)
2004: Macedonia Literature Award
2005: Ouessant (France) International Literary Award
2010: Arpino (Italy): Il Libro di Pietra plaque
2012: Newbridge Town Culture Award
2015: Kildare County Council Literature Award
2015: IBAM, Irish Books and Media (Chicago) Award for Literature
Offices held
Founder and Artistic Director, The Gerard Manley Hopkins International Festival, Newbridge College: 1987 to present
Juror The Neustadt International Literature Award University of Oklahoma 1999
Cultural Relations Committee, Dept. of Foreign Affairs 2000 - 2003; 2003 - 2006
Hon. President, The Classical Society of Ireland, 2004
Further reading
Arkins, Brian, Desmond Egan: A Critical Study Milestone Press, Little Rock, USA, 1992.
Kenner, Hugh, ed., Desmond Egan: The Poet and His Work. Northern Lights, Maine, USA,1990.
Kunio Shimane,The Language of Now: Three Poems of Desmond Egan Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, Vol. 91, No. 364 (Winter, 2002), pp. 390–398.
Interview with Anthony Roche: Irish Literary Supplement, Volume 8, Number 2, 1 September 1989.
The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature, Oxford, 1996
The Influential Irish, Dublin, 2006
The Gill Encyclopaedia of Ireland
Modern Irish Writers: a Biography
Modern Irish Lives
Dictionary of Irish Literature
Who’s Who in Ireland
Adamson, William, Epic, Studies,2019
Conference lecturer/reader
USA
Ezra Pound Conferences
TS Eliot Conference;
Patrick Kavanagh Conference
American Conferences on Irish Studies
I.A.S.I.L. Conference etc.
Italy
Sardinia
France
UK
Germany
Spain
Macedonia
Belgium
Croatia
Nicaragua
Austria
South Korea
China
Japan
Sweden
Ireland: W.B. Yeats Conference First Creative Writing Director
Patrick Kavanagh Weekend
UCD First Poet in Residence; Lecture series
Galway Classical Conference
John Broderick Weekend, Athlone
Ireland Classical Society Presidential Lecture
NUI Maynooth French and English Groups; IASIL Conference
The Hopkins Festival
Michael Hartnett Weekend, Dublin
Gerard Manley Hopkins Festivals
Selected articles
The Book of Kells Art and Antiques USA c.1990
Peter Connolly The Furrow
The Dominicans of Galway Yearbook, 1991
Patrick Kavanagh in P.K. Man and Poet USA 1991
Happy Hopkins Studies, winter 2012
Art and Illness 2nd World Humanities Forum Proceedings 2012
Gabriel Marcel Kansas Journal 2019
Essays / reviews
Various Countries incl. USA, UK, France, Germany, Ireland
Portraits
Brian Bourke 1972
Brian Bourke Triptique 1988
Charles Cullen 1974
Alex Sadkowsky 1982
Wilhelm Fockersperger c.10 times
Chinese Artist 1990
James McKenna 1998
References
External links
Desmond Egan reads his poem "Peace" video
List of works by Desmond Egan
Mediterránean Poetry: [1]
Literature Ireland: [2]
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Spy × Family
- Perang Dunia I
- Brendan Gleeson
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- 2023
- Legends of the Fall
- Daftar kardinal yang diangkat oleh Yohanes Paulus II
- Songwriters Hall of Fame
- Pertempuran Azincourt (1415)
- Jean Vanier
- Desmond Egan
- Egan (surname)
- Máirtín Ó Direáin
- Edward Egan
- John Berryman
- Neustadt International Prize for Literature
- Philoctetes (Sophocles play)
- Execution of Benjamin Moloise
- Richard Weber (poet)
- Leonardo Omar Onida
