Reality Check

O'Driscoll Dennis

Dennis O'Driscoll lends his transformative vision to everyday "bread and butter" routines and the insidious forces that imperil them. From the entertaining mixture of shorter poems which opens his eighth collection, he branches out with "Skywriting", a visually dramatic and rhythmically vibrant sequence which paints a map of light in its varied moods and modulations. Part lamentation, part celebration, the sequence glints with interludes of sunlit repose, while also flashing a scrutinising light on darker aspects of our century and environment.

About the Author

Dennis O'Driscoll (1954-2012) was born in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. Apart from nine collections of poetry, books published during his lifetime included a selection of essays and reviews, "Troubled Thoughts, Majestic Dreams" (2001), two collections of literary quotations and "Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney" (2008). Among his awards were a Lannan Literary Award in 1999, the 2005 E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the 2006 O'Shaughnessy Award for Poetry from the Center for Irish Studies (Minnesota). A member of Aosdana, the Irish academy of artists, he worked for almost forty years in Ireland's Revenue and Customs service. He died on Christmas Eve, 2012.

Reviews

Awards won by Dennis O'Driscoll
Short-listed, 2001 Irish Times Literary Prize,Irish Poetry (Weather Permitting)
Winner, 2013 Irish Times Literary Prize, Irish Poetry (Dear Life)

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