John Montague (poet)
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John Montague (28 February 1929 − 10 December 2016) was an Irish poet. Born in America, he was raised in Ireland. He published a number of volumes of poetry, two collections of short stories and two volumes of memoir. He was one of the best known Irish contemporary poets. In 1998 he became the first occupant of the Ireland Chair of Poetry (essentially Ireland's
poet laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...
). In 2010, he was made a
Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
, France's highest civil award.


Early life

John Montague was born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, New York, on 28 February 1929. His father, James Montague, an Ulster
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, from
County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...
, had gone to America in 1925 to join his brother John. Both were sons of John Montague, who had been a JP, combining his legal duties with being a schoolmaster, farmer, postmaster and director of several firms. John continued as postmaster but James became involved in the turbulent Irish Republican scene in the years after 1916, particularly complicated in areas like Fermanagh and Tyrone, on the borders of the newly divided island. Molly (Carney) Montague joined her husband James in America in 1928, with their two elder sons. John was born on Bushwick Avenue at St. Catherine's Hospital, and spent his earliest years playing with his brothers in the streets of Brooklyn, putting nickels on the trolley lines, playing on a tenement roof, seeing early Mickey Mouse movies.


Return to Garvaghey

Although the uncle John ran a
speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States ...
, where he employed his brother James, life in New York was difficult during the Great Depression, so the three boys were shipped back to Ireland in 1933, the two eldest to their maternal grandmother's house in Fintona, County Tyrone, where they had been born, but John was sent to his father's ancestral home at
Garvaghey Garvaghey or Garvaghy () is a townland and hamlet in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is between Ballygawley (about 5 miles to the southeast) and Omagh (about 11 miles to the northwest). Carvaghey is in the Parish of Errigal Ciaran. The ...
, then maintained by two spinster aunts, Brigid and Freda, who welcomed the boy of four. From New York to a farm on the edge of the Clogher Valley in County Tyrone was a significant step backwards in time. John did all the usual farming chores. He became a normal Ulster farm child, though haunted by the disparity between what the house in Garvaghey had been, in the days of his grandfather and namesake, and the reduced present. Montague reminisced about the gardens of his Ulster home in his poem, "Paths". John went first to Garvaghey School and then to Glencull, three miles away, where he was coached by a young and ardent master. Scholarships brought him to St. Patrick's College, Armagh, the junior diocesan seminary and the place where his Jesuit uncle, Thomas Montague, had gone.


Education

John Montague studied at
University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...
in 1946. He found an extraordinary contrast between the Ulster of the war years and post-war Dublin, where the atmosphere was introverted and melancholy. Stirred by the example of other student poets (including
Thomas Kinsella Thomas Kinsella (4 May 192822 December 2021) was an Irish poet, translator, editor, and publisher. Born outside Dublin, Kinsella attended University College Dublin before entering the civil service. He began publishing poetry in the early 1950s ...
) he began to publish his first poems in ''
The Dublin Magazine ''The Dublin Magazine'' was an Irish literature, Irish literary journal founded and edited by the Irish poetry, poet Seumas O'Sullivan (real name James Sullivan Starkey) and published in ''Dublin'' by "Dublin Publishers, Ltd., 9 Commercial Buil ...
'', ''
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'', and '' The Bell'', edited by
Peadar O'Donnell Peadar O'Donnell ( ga, Peadar Ó Domhnaill; 22 February 1893 – 13 May 1986) was one of the foremost radicals of 20th-century Ireland. O'Donnell became prominent as an Irish republican, socialist activist, politician and writer. Early life Pea ...
. But the atmosphere in Dublin was still constrained and Montague left for
Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
on a
Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
in 1953. John had already met
Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only w ...
at the Salzburg Seminar in American Studies and now he worked with
Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the liter ...
as well as auditing the classes of several Yale critics, like Rene Wellek and W. K. Wimsatt. He extended his sense of contemporary American literature, attending Indiana Summer School of Letters where he heard Richard Wilbur, Leslie Fiedler, and
John Crowe Ransom John Crowe Ransom (April 30, 1888 – July 3, 1974) was an American educator, scholar, literary critic, poet, essayist and editor. He is considered to be a founder of the New Criticism school of literary criticism. As a faculty member at Kenyon ...
, who like the Irish poet Austin Clarke, encouraged Montague, finding him a job at the
Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative W ...
in 1954 and 1955.


Middle years: 1950s and 1960s

From Iowa to
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
, a year of graduate school convinced Montague that he should return to Ireland. He sailed back to France that summer, to marry his first wife, Madeleine, whom he had met in Iowa, where she was also on a Fulbright; they settled in Herbert Street, Dublin, a few doors down from
Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English an ...
. Working by day at the Irish Tourist Office, Montague at last gathered his first book of poems, ''Poisoned Lands'' (1961). That year he also moved to Paris, to a small studio a block away from Samuel Beckett, with whom he slowly became on good drinking terms. There, he also met another neighbour, the French poet Claude Esteban, with whom he became friends – Montague later translated into English and published some of his poems. A regular rhythm of publication saw the appearance of his first book of stories, ''Death of a Chieftain'' (1964), after which the musical group
The Chieftains The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...
were named, and his second and third books of poems, ''A Chosen Light'' (1967) and ''Tides'' (1970), the latter both also published by Swallow in the U.S. All during the 1960s, Montague continued to work on his long poem, '' The Rough Field'', a task that coincided with the outbreak of the
Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
Movement in Northern Ireland. ''A Patriotic Suite'' appeared in 1966, ''Hymn to the New Omagh Road'' and ''The Bread God'' in 1968, and ''A New Siege'', dedicated to
Bernadette Devlin Josephine Bernadette McAliskey (née Devlin; born 23 April 1947), usually known as Bernadette Devlin or Bernadette McAliskey, is an Irish civil rights leader, and former politician. She served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster in North ...
which he read outside Armagh Jail in 1970. In 1972, the long poem was finally published by Dolmen/Oxford and Montague returned to Ireland, to live and teach in
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 ...
, at the request of his friend, the composer
Seán Ó Riada Seán Ó Riada (; born John Reidy; 1 August 1931 – 3 October 1971), was an Irish composer and arranger of Irish traditional music. Through his incorporation of modern and traditional techniques he became the single most influential figur ...
. His students at UCC during the 1970s included a number of writers, sometimes collectively referred to as "the Cork poets", that included Gregory O'Donoghue, Sean Dunne, Thomas McCarthy, William Wall,
Maurice Riordan Maurice Riordan (born 1953) is an Irish poet, translator, and editor. Born in Lisgoold, County Cork, his poetry collections include: ''A Word from the Loki'' (1995), a largely London-based collection which was a Poetry Book Society Choice and ...
, Gerry Murphy, Greg Delanty and
Theo Dorgan Theo Dorgan (born 1953) is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer, translator, librettist and documentary screenwriter. He lives in Dublin. Life Dorgan was born in Cork in 1953 being second child born into a family of 8 boys and 8 girls to pare ...
. In a birthday tribute for his 80th, William Wall wrote: "It would be impossible to overestimate his influence on the young writers who went to UCC (
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 ...
) at that time." ''The Rough Field'' (1972) was slowly recognised as a major achievement.


Later years: 1974–2016

Settled in
Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
with his second wife, Evelyn Robson,John Montague: Life, &c
Ricorso.net. Retrieved on 28 April 2015.
Montague published an anthology, '' The Faber Book of Irish Verse'' (1974) with a book of lyrics, ''A Slow Dance'' (1975). Recognition was now beginning to come, with the award of the Irish American Cultural Institute in 1976, the first Marten Toonder Award in 1977, and in 1978, the Alice Hunt Bartlett Award for ''The Great Cloak'', "the best book of poetry in two years" according to the Poetry Society of Great Britain. A Guggenheim in 1979 and 1980 enabled Montague to complete his ''Selected Poems'' (1982) and his second long poem, ''The Dead Kingdom'' (1984) both co-published by Dolmen (Ireland), Oxford (England), Wake Forest University Press (US) and Exile Editions (Canada). In 1987, Montague was awarded an honorary doctor of letters by the ''State University of New York'' at Buffalo. Governor Mario M. Cuomo presented Montague a citation in 1987 "for his outstanding literary achievements and his contributions to the people of New York." Montague served as distinguished writer-in-residence for the
New York State Writers Institute The New York State Writers Institute is a literary organization based at the University at Albany in Albany, New York. It sponsors thAlbany Book Festival the Albany Film Festival, Visiting Writers Series, Classic Film Series, thTrolley online lite ...
during each spring semester, teaching workshops in fiction and poetry and a class in the English Department of the
University of Albany A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
. In 1995, Montague and his second wife, Evelyn, separated, and he formed a partnership with American student Elizabeth Wassell (later to be author of ''The Honey Plain'' (1997)). He has 2 daughters with Evelyn, Sibyl and Oonagh. In 1998, Montague was named the first Irish professor of poetry, a three-year appointment to be divided among The Queen's University in Belfast, Trinity College Dublin, and University College Dublin. He held this title from 1998 to 2001, when he was succeeded by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill. In 2008, he published ''A Ball of Fire'', a collection of all his fiction including the short novella ''The Lost Notebook''.


Death

Montague died at the age of 87 in
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
on 10 December 2016 after complications from a recent surgery. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth Wassell, daughters Oonagh and Sibyl and grandchildren Eve and Theo.


Style

Montague's poems chart boyhood, schooldays, love and relationships. Family and personal history and Ireland's history are also prominent themes in his poetry. Montague is noted for his vowel harmonies, his use of
assonance Assonance is a resemblance in the sounds of words/syllables either between their vowels (e.g., ''meat, bean'') or between their consonants (e.g., ''keep, cape''). However, assonance between consonants is generally called ''consonance'' in America ...
and echo, and his handling of the line and line break. Montague believed that a poem appears with its own rhythm and that rhythm and line lengths should be based on living speech.


Awards and honours

John Montague was awarded an honorary degree of
Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...
from the University of Ulster, Coleraine on 29 June 2009. In 2000, Montague was awarded
The Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize The Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize is a biennial award that is offered alternately to enable an Australian poet to visit Ireland and to facilitate the visit of an Irish poet to Melbourne. It provides the recipient with a return airfare, a contribution ...
. He was made Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur in 2010 and also received an honorary doctorate from the Sorbonne. In 2016, he received the Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award of the
Irish Book Awards The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. In 2018 An Post took over sponsorship of the awards from Bord Gais Energy. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. ...
.


List of works

* ''Forms of Exile'' (poems) The Dolmen Press, 1958 * ''A Chosen Light'' (poems) MacGibbon and Kee, 1967 * ''The Rough Field'' (poems) The Dolmen Press, 1972 * ''A Slow Dance'' (poems) The Dolmen Press, 1975 * ''A Slow Dance'' (poems) Wake Forest University Press, 1975 * ''The Great Cloak'' (poems) The Dolmen Press, 1978 * ''The Great Cloak'' (poems) Wake Forest University Press, 1978 * ''The Dead Kingdom'' (poems) Oxford University Press, 1984 * ''The Rough Field, 4th Ed.'' Wake Forest University Press, Winston-Salem, 1984 * ''The Lost Notebook'' (a novella). Mercier Press, Cork, 1987 * ''Mount Eagle'' (poems). Wake Forest University Press, Winston-Salem, 1989 * ''The Rough Field,5th Ed.'' (poems). Wake Forest University Press, Winston-Salem, 1989 * ''Bitter Harvest'' (an anthology of recent Irish poetry). Scribners, New York, 1989 * ''The Figure in the Cave'' (essays). Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, 1989 * ''Born in Brooklyn'' (selected American writings). White Pine Press, Buffalo, 1991 * ''An Occasion of Sin'' (short stories ). Exile Editions, Toronto; White Pine Press, Buffalo, 1992 * ''The Love Poems.'' Exile Editions, Toronto, 1992; Sheep Meadow Press, New York, 1993 * ''The Rough Field''. The Gallery Press, Ireland, 1989 * ''Time in Armagh'' (a sequence of poems). The Gallery Press, Ireland, 1993 * ''Collected Poems'' The Gallery Press, Ireland, 1995 * ''Collected Poems'' Wake Forest University Press, Winston-Salem, 1995 * ''Smashing The Piano'' The Gallery Press, Ireland, 1999 * ''Smashing The Piano'' Wake Forest University Press, Winston-Salem, 2001 * ''Drunken Sailor'' The Gallery Press, Ireland, 2004 * ''Drunken Sailor'' Wake Forest University Press, Winston-Salem, 2005 * ''The Rough Field, 6th Ed.'' Wake Forest University Press, Winston-Salem, 2005 * ''The Pear Is Ripe'' (Memoir) Liberties Press, 2007 * ''In My Grandfather's Mansion." (Signed Limited Edition), The Gallery Press, Ireland, 2010 * ''Speech Lessons'' (poems) The Gallery Press, Ireland, 2011 * ''Speech Lessons'' (poems) Wake Forest University Press, Winston-Salem, 2012 * ''New Collected Poems'' The Gallery Press, Ireland, 2012 * ''The Great Bell'' (Signed Limited Edition) Enitharmon Press, London, 2015


Collections

* ''A Ball of Fire'' * ''Poisoned Lands'' * ''Rough Field'' * ''Time in Armagh'' * ''Tides''


Further reading

* Val Nolan, 'John Montague: Learning to be Humble', '' Southword'', Issue 14, pp. 127–132 (Cork: June 2008); Interview with the poet about his life and career * Parker, Michael, Northern Odyssey: John Montague's "The Cry" (1964) in Its Political Contexts, ''New Hibernia Review,'' Vol. 7, No. 1, Earrach/Spring 2003 pp. 87-109
Thomas McCarthy, 'Poet of Exile And Return'
Birthday tribute to John Montague, ''Irish Times'' * Myers, James P. ''Writing Irish: Selected Interviews with Irish Writers'', Syracuse University Press, 1999. Interview with Kevin T. McEneaney. * Kersnowski, Frank. ''John Montague'', Bucknell University Press, 1975. * Redshaw, Thomas Dillon. Well Dreams: Essays on John Montague, Creighton University Press, 2004. Collection of twenty-two essays by various and a descriptive bibliography.


References


External links


John Montague fonds
at University of Victoria, Special Collections
John Montague's page at Wake Forest University Press

The Wake Forest University Press
*http://www.gallerypress.com/authors/m-to-n/john-montague/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Montague, John 1929 births 2016 deaths Aosdána members Writers from New York (state) People from County Tyrone People educated at St Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh State University of New York faculty 20th-century Irish poets 20th-century Irish male writers Irish male poets 21st-century Irish poets 21st-century Irish male writers Claddagh Records artists