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, 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