Susan Millar DuMars, Irish-American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and short fiction author, was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1966. Millar DuMars was born and raised in Philadelphia by her mother who originated from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. In 1997, she visited

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

during the

Galway Arts Festival The Galway International Arts Festival (GIAF), founded in 1978, is a cultural organization that produces an annual arts festival in Galway, Ireland. It also produces new work that tours nationally and internationally, in addition to presenting ...

, and has since made the city her home. Her husband is the poet Kevin Higgins, and the couple have organised the 'Over the Edge' reading series. The pair have also facilitated creative writing workshops throughout Galway since 2003. Millar DuMars also teaches creative writing to students in the

National University of Ireland, Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

. DuMars wrote her first poem in school at the age of 8, which was later published in 1994. Her work has been published in several anthologies in the U.S. and Europe, including ''The Best of Irish Poetry 2010''. As for education, Dumars attended college at Hampshire College, Massachusetts. She then went on to the University of San Francisco and got her Masters of Arts degree. In 2009, DuMars and Higgins were the subject of a short documentary by Des Kilbane called 'Rhyming Couplet', which was screened at the 2009 Galway Film Fleadh. DuMars is featured on the Irish podcasting site www.podcasts.ie where she talks about her work and what makes her write, and also reads from her poetry collection. In 2020, DuMars received a bursary from the Irish Arts Council to enable her to complete work on her second book of short stories, a themed collection titled ''Cameos. ''

Selected works

* ''American Girls'', 2007. * ''Big Pink Umbrella'', 2008. * ''Dreams for Breakfast'', 2010. * ''Lights in the Distance'' 2010 * ''The God Thing'', 2013 * ''Bone Fire'', 2016 * ''Naked: New and Selected Poems'', 2019

References

External links

* http://www.gagstag.com/an-interview-with-susan-millar-dumars/ * http://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=286 1966 births Living people Writers from Philadelphia Writers from County Galway American women poets 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers American emigrants to Ireland {{poet-stub