Derry O'Sullivan is an Irish poet living in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France. He was born in 1944 in

Bantry Bantry () is a town in the civil parish of Kilmocomoge in the barony of Bantry on the southwest coast of County Cork, Ireland. It lies in West Cork at the head of Bantry Bay, a deep-water gulf extending for to the west. The Beara Peninsula is ...

, Co. Cork, Ireland. His poetry collections in the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

are: "Cá bhfuil do Iudás?" (Dublin,

Coiscéim Coiscéim (; "Footstep") is a prolific Dublin-based Irish-language publisher founded by writer, historian and language activist Pádraig Ó Snodaigh in 1980. With over 1,500 titles Coiscéim have published the largest number of titles amongst the 2 ...

, 1987) - winner of fou
Oireachtas
Literary prizes and the

Seán Ó Ríordáin Seán Pádraig Ó Ríordáin (3 December 1916 – 21 February 1977), sometimes referred to as an Ríordánach, was an Irish language poet and later a newspaper columnist. He is credited with introducing European themes to Irish poetry, and is wi ...

Memorial Prize; "Cá bhfuil Tiarna Talún l’Univers?" (Dublin, Coiscéim, 1994); "An Lá go dTáinig Siad" (Dublin, Coiscéim, 2005), a long poem about the Nazi occupation of Paris, and "An bhfuil cead agam dul amach, más é do thoil é?" (Dublin, Coiscéim, 2009). He has participated in literary festivals in Ireland, France, the US and Canada and his work has been published in numerous literary reviews and anthologies.

Life and work

O'Sullivan's poems have been translated into English and French and several of them can be consulted in

Harvard University Library Harvard Library is the umbrella organization for Harvard University's libraries and services. It is the oldest library system in the United States and both the largest academic library and largest private library in the world. Its collection ...

. His work appears in English translation in "The King’s English" (Paris, First Impressions, 1987). "En Mal de Fleurs" (Québec
Lèvres Urbaines 30
1988) is a suite of poems written directly in French. An English translation b
Kaarina Hollo
of O'Sullivan's poe

won the 201

a competition open to poems in all languages and from all periods of history. O'Sullivan's poem ‘Blip’ was incorporated into the fabric of the Gaelscoil (Irish-medium primary school) in Bantry, Co. Cork, as part of a public art project in 2014, in collaboration with the artists Cleary&Connoll

O'Sullivan made the first direct translation of the 10th-Century Irish poem "Cailleach Béara" ("The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare") into French, in collaboration with Jean-Yves Bériou and Martine Joulia, as "Lamentations de la vieille femme de Beare", published in a hand-printed Irish/French bilingual edition (Paris, 1992, 1995) and revised in 2006 ( Éditions de l'Escampette). A former priest, O'Sullivan is married and has three children. He has taught English at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

(University of Paris), the

Institut Catholique de Paris The Institut Catholique de Paris (ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France. History: 1875–present The Institut Catholiq ...

(The Catholic University of Paris) and the Institut Supérieur d’Electronique de Paris. He is a senior examiner for the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

. Among other projects he co-founded the Festival Franco-Anglais de Poésie. The late Reginald Gray, O'Sullivan's friend, provided the cover art of three of his poetry collections, as well the portrait on the right. Other collaborations with visual artists include "Ceamara/Camera", a bilingual Irish/English poem, reply to

Jean-Max Albert Jean-Max Albert (born 1942) is a French painter, sculptor, writer, and musician. He has published theory, books on artists, and a collection of poems, plays and novels inspired by quantum physics. He perpetuated experiments initiated by Paul Klee ...

’s french poem ‘’La camera sans film’’, in a hand-printed, limited-edition art book by Kate Van Houten
Estepa Editions
Paris 2010) and "Saorganach/En affranchi à faux", a bilingual French/Irish poem illustrated b
Valerie Vahey
in a hand-printed, limited-edition boxed set
"Poésie et Gravure" (Ateliers Bo Halbirk, 2012)
O’Sullivan was commissioned by the

PayneShurvell PayneShurvell is a contemporary art gallery based in William Road in Kings Cross, London. It shows the work of Andrew Curtis, Aidan McNeill, Wrik Mead, Margaret Harrison, Anka Dabrowska and other internationally-recognised artists. The policy of ...

gallery to write an interpretation of Rudolf Reiber'
Suspiria
(2012) as part of the first solo exhibition in London of the German artist. He has also collaborated (in Latin) with the Mexican artis

References

"The Cambridge History of Irish Literature", Volume 2
page 349. published 2006: "A shortlist of the most notable among the (re)emergent voices (in contemporary Irish language poetry) might include... Derry O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan's technical ingenuity and agitated intelligence are such that they constantly threaten to outrun his linguistic ability; his elegy for a stillborn child, 'Marbhghin: Glaoch ar Liombo', is one of the most achingly beautiful Irish poems of the twentieth century." *

Poetry Ireland Review ''Poetry Ireland Review'' is a journal of Irish poetry published three times a year by Poetry Ireland, the national Irish poetry organisation. ''Poetry Ireland Review'' publishes the work of both emerging and established Irish and international ...

, Number 102: "O'Sullivan's language has tremendous range and one would suspect that if Irish were to become a language of Paris it might be spoken as O'Sullivan writes it."

External links

Profile of Derry O'Sullivan
by Conor Power in

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

, 2 December 2012
Derry O'Sullivan at Irish Writers Online

Derry O'Sullivan at the National Library of Ireland

* . * http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poet/item/23765/Derry-OSullivan {{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, Derry 1944 births Irish poets Living people Academic staff of the University of Paris People from Bantry