Robert Greacen (1920–2008) was an Irish poet and 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 ...
. Born in
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, on 24 October 1920, he was educated at
Methodist College Belfast
God with us
, established = 1865
, type = Voluntary grammar
, religion = Interdenominational
, principal = Jenny Lendrum
, chair_label = Chairwoman
, chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth
, founder ...
and
Trinity College Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
. He died on 13 April 2008 in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
Greacen's literary career has included poetry, reviewing, and editing.
Publications
His published poetry collections include ''The Bird'' (1941), ''Northern Harvest'' (Belfast, Derrick MacCord, 1944), ''One Recent Evening'' (1944), ''The Undying Day'' (London, The Falcon Press, 1948), ''A Garland for Captain Fox'' (Dublin, The Gallery Press, 1975), ''I, Brother Stephen'' (Dublin, St. Beuno's, 1978), ''Young Mr Gibbon'' (1979), ''A Bright Mask'', (Dublin, The Dedalus Press, 1985), ''Protestant Without a Horse'' (Belfast, The Lagan Press, 1997), ''Carnival at The River'' (Dublin; Dedalus;, 1990); ''Collected Poems'' (Lagan Press, 1995), ''Lunch at the Ivy'' (Lagan Press, 2002), and ''Selected & New Poems'' (ed. by Jack W. Weaver, Cliffs of Moher, Salmon Publishing, 2006).
''Robert Greacen: Collected Poems 1944-1994'', won the
Irish Times Award for Literature in 1995.
His autobiography, ''Even Without Irene'', was published by the Dolmen Press in 1969 and re-issued in 1995 by Lagan Press. An expanded autobiography, ''The Sash My Father Wore'', was published in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
by Mainstream Publishing in 1997.
Personal life
He was married to the late Patricia Hutchins, author of ''Ezra Pound's Kensington'' and ''James Joyce's Dublin''. They had one daughter, Arethusa Greacen, who resides in the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
.
References
Further reading
The Times: Robert Greacen Poet who at the request of T. S. Eliot compiled The Faber Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry* Guardian Obituar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greacen, Robert
1920 births
2008 deaths
Male poets from Northern Ireland
Writers from Derry (city)
Writers from Dublin (city)
Aosdána members
People educated at Methodist College Belfast
20th-century poets from Northern Ireland
Male writers from Northern Ireland
Autobiographers from Northern Ireland
20th-century British male writers