Maurice Riordan (born 1953) is an Irish poet, translator, and editor. Born in

Lisgoold Lisgoold () is a village and civil parish in County Cork, Ireland. Lisgoold is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne, and is served by St John the Baptist Catholic church. Lisgoold is part of the Cork East Dáil constituency. Sport The lo ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, his poetry collections include: ''A Word from the Loki'' (1995), a largely London-based collection which was a

Poetry Book Society The Poetry Book Society (PBS) was founded in 1953 by T. S. Eliot and friends, including Sir Basil Blackwell, "to propagate the art of poetry". Eric Walter White was secretary from December 1953 until 1971, and was subsequently the society's chair ...

Choice and shortlisted for the

T. S. Eliot Prize The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is a prize that was, for many years, awarded by the Poetry Book Society (UK) to "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or the Republic of Ireland" in any particular year. The Priz ...

; ''Floods'' (2000) which took a more millennial tone, and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Award; ''The Holy Land'' (2007) which contains a sequence of

Idylls An idyll (, ; from Greek , ''eidullion'', "short poem"; occasionally spelt ''idyl'' in American English) is a short poem, descriptive of rustic life, written in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the ''Idylls'' (Εἰδύλλια). ...

prose poems Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form, while preserving poetic qualities such as heightened imagery, parataxis, and emotional effects. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associ ...

and returns to Riordan's Irish roots more directly than his earlier work. It received the Michael Hartnett Award. His anthologies include ''A Quark for Mister Mark: 101 Poems about Science'' (2000), a collaboration with Jon Turney, an anthology of ecological poems ''Wild Reckoning'' (2004) edited with

John Burnside John Burnside FRSL FRSE (born 19 March 1955) is a Scottish writer. He is one of only three poets (the others being Ted Hughes and Sean O'Brien) to have won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same book (''Black C ...

, and ''Dark Matter'' (2008) edited with astronomer

Jocelyn Bell Burnell Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell (; Bell; born 15 July 1943) is an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who, as a postgraduate student, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. The discovery eventually earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in ...

. He has also edited a selection of poems by

Hart Crane Harold Hart Crane (July 21, 1899 – April 27, 1932) was an American poet. Provoked and inspired by T. S. Eliot, Crane wrote modernist poetry that was difficult, highly stylized, and ambitious in its scope. In his most ambitious work, '' The Brid ...

(2008) in Faber's 'Poet to Poet' series. He has translated the work of Maltese poet Immanuel Mifsud. His collection for children ''The Moon Has Written You a Poem'' is adapted from the Portuguese of José Jorge Letria. In 2004 he was selected as one of the

Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

's 'Next Generation' poets. He was Poetry Editor of ''

Poetry London ''Poetry London'' is a literary periodical based in London. Published three times a year, it features poems, reviews, and other articles. Profile Adopting the title of an earlier bimonthly publication which ran from 1939 to 1951, ''Poetry London' ...

'' from 2005 to 2009 and Editor of '' The Poetry Review'' from 2013 to 2017. Riordan was educated in St. Colman's College, Fermoy,

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

and McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. He has taught at

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

and at

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and is Emeritus Professor of Poetry at

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...

. He lives in London.

Publications

Poetry collections

''A Word from the Loki'', Faber 1995 ''Floods'', Faber 2000 ''The Holy Land'', Faber 2007 ''The Water Stealer'', Faber 2013 ''Shoulder Tap'', Faber 2021

For children

''The Moon Has Written You a Poem'', Winged Chariot 2005

As editor

''A Quark for Mister Mark'' (with Jon Turney), Faber 2000 ''Wild Reckoning'' (with John Burnside), Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation 2004 ''The Best of Irish Poetry'' (with Colm Breathnach), Southword 2006 ''Dark Matter: Poems of Space'' (with Jocelyn Bell Burnell), Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation 2008 ''Hart Crane: Selected Poems'', Faber 'Poet to Poet' 2008 ''The Finest Music: Early Irish Lyrics in Translation'', Faber 2014

Translations

''Confidential Reports'' (Immanuel Mifsud), Southword 2005 ''The Play of Waves'' (Immanuel Mifsud), Arc 2017

References

External links

Maurice Riordan recording on The Poetry ArchiveMaurice Riordan guest on BBC's Private PassionsMaurice Riordan author page on the Faber & Faber website"Maurice Riordan" at Poetry Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riordan, Maurice 1953 births Living people Irish poets People from County Cork 20th-century Irish writers 20th-century male writers 21st-century Irish writers 21st-century Irish male writers Alumni of University College Cork