James Harpur (born 1956) is a British-born

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

poet who has published eight books of poetry. He has won a number of awards, including the Michael Hartnett Award and the UK National Poetry Competition. He has also published books of non-fiction and a novel, ''The Pathless Country''. He lives in West Cork and is a member of

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...

, the Irish academy of the arts.

Biography

James Harpur was born in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in 1956 to an Irish father and a British mother and now lives near Clonakilty in County Cork. His father was born in Timahoe, County Laois, the son of a Church of Ireland minister, and his mother was born in Le Vésinet, Paris. Harpur studied Classics and English at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where he was a joint-winner of the Powell Prize for Poetry. He taught English on the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

and has subsequently worked as a lexicographer and freelance writer.

Works

Poetry

Many of the poems of his first collection, ''A Vision of Comets'', take their inspiration from his time on

and from the Aegean area. In 1995 he won the UK National Poetry Competition with a sonnet sequence, ‘The Frame of Furnace Light’, about the death of his father. The poem was published in his second book, ''The Monk’s Dream''. In 2000 Harpur became poet in residence in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

Cathedral, as part of the UK’s ‘Year of the Artist’ scheme. In 2002 he moved to Ireland and settled in West Cork, near the town of

Clonakilty Clonakilty (; ), sometimes shortened to Clon, is a town in County Cork, Ireland. The town is located at the head of the tidal Clonakilty Bay. The rural hinterland is used mainly for dairy farming. The town's population as of 2016 was 4,592. Th ...

. His book, ''The Dark Age'', featuring a sequence on Irish

Dark Age The ''Dark Ages'' is a term for the Early Middle Ages, or occasionally the entire Middle Ages, in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire that characterises it as marked by economic, intellectual and cultural decline. The conce ...

saints, won the 2009

Michael Hartnett Michael Hartnett ( ga, Mícheál Ó hAirtnéide) (18 September 1941 – 13 October 1999) was an Irish poet who wrote in both English and Irish. He was one of the most significant voices in late 20th-century Irish writing and has been called " Mu ...

Award. Further books include ''The White Silhouette'' (2018), described by the ''Irish Times'' as a ‘resonant, moving pilgrimage of great beauty’, and ''The Examined Life'' (2021), described by

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

as a ‘quite marvellous work … an ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

'', a ''

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

'' shaken up in the snow-dome of ''

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' is the first novel of Irish writer James Joyce. A ''Künstlerroman'' written in a modernist style, it traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Stephen Dedalus, Joyce's fictional alter ...

''.’

Fiction

In 2021 Harpur published his first novel, ''The Pathless Country'', winner of the J.G. Farrell Award and an Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair award. The story is set in early-1900s Ireland and London, and features a number of historical characters, including

W.B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

Annie Besant Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human f ...

, and

J. Krishnamurti Jiddu Krishnamurti (; 11 May 1895 – 17 February 1986) was a philosopher, speaker and writer. In his early life, he was groomed to be the new Maitreya (Theosophy)#The World Teacher Project, World Teacher, an advanced Spirituality, spiritual po ...

Poetry style

According to the introduction to Harpur on the Poetry International website, he ‘is essentially an interior poet with a fascination for spirituality, and his poems are full of references to Christian as well as to other religious traditions. Stylistically, he has a deep sympathy with the mythopoeic strand of poetry, from

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

and

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

to the

Romantics Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

and

Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish litera ...

, Eliot and

Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...

. His non-literary influences include

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...

and

’. In a review of ''The White Silhouette'', Michael O’Neill wrote: ‘I have rarely encountered a contemporary voice that brings out as strongly and convincingly as does James Harpur’s in ''The White Silhouette'' the way in which spiritual wrestlings and traditions can live again in poetry.’

Prizes and awards

Poetry

Vincent Buckley Vincent Thomas Buckley (8 July 1925 – 12 November 1988) was an Australian poet, teacher, editor, essayist and critic. Life Buckley was born in 1925 in Romsey, Victoria to Patrick Buckley, a carter and sometime farm labourer, and his wife Fran ...

Poetry Prize 2016 * Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship 2013 *

Poetry Award 2009 * UK

National Poetry Competition The National Poetry Competition is an annual poetry prize established in 1978 in the United Kingdom. It is run by the UK-based Poetry Society and accepts entries from all over the world, with over 10,000 poems being submitted to the competition ...

1995 *

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by British poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. In 2021, the seven ...

1985

Fiction

(for ''The Pathless Country'') *

John McGahern John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006) was an Irish writer and novelist. He is regarded as one of the most important writers of the latter half of the twentieth century. Known for the detailed dissection of Irish life found in wo ...

Prize (shortlisted) 2022 * J.G. Farrell Award (2019) * Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair Award (2016)

Bibliography

Poetry

* ''The Oratory of Light,'' Wild Goose, 2021 * ''The Examined Life,'' Two Rivers Press, 2021 * ''The White Silhouette,'' Carcanet, 2018 * ''Angels and Harvesters,'' Anvil Press Poetry, 2012 * ''The Dark Age,'' Anvil Press Poetry, 2007 * ''Oracle Bones,'' Anvil Press Poetry, 2001 * ''The Monk’s Dream,'' Anvil Press Poetry, 1996 * ''A Vision of Comets,'' Anvil Press Poetry, 1993

Translation

* ''Fortune’s Prisoner: The poems of Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy,'' Anvil Press Poetry, 2007

Fiction

* ''The Pathless Country'', Cinnamon Press, 2021

Spiritual books

* ''The Pilgrim Journey'' (non-fiction), BlueBridge, 2015 * ''Love Burning in the Soul: the Story of the Christian Mystics'' (non-fiction), Shambhala, 2005 * ''The Gospel of Joseph of Arimathea'' (poetry and prose), Wild Goose, 2008

External links

Official website https://www.jamesharpur.com Introduction to Harpur’s work on the Poetry International website: https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/poets-poems/poets/poet/102-12503_Harpur Interview with Harpur by Poetry Ireland Review (via author’s website): https://www.jamesharpur.com/pirpiece.htm Interview with Harpur by Kevin Brophy for Axon magazine (Australia): https://axonjournal.com.au/issues/8-2/james-harpur-process-20132017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harpur, James 1956 births Aosdána members 20th-century Irish male writers 21st-century Irish male writers Irish poets Living people Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge

Biography

Works

Poetry

Fiction

Poetry style

Prizes and awards

Poetry

Fiction

Bibliography

Poetry

Translation

Fiction

Spiritual books

External links

See also

References