Theo Dorgan (born 1953) is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer, translator,

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

and documentary screenwriter. He lives 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 ...

Life

Dorgan was born 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 ...

in 1953 being second child born into a family of 8 boys and 8 girls to parents Bertie and Rosemary Dorgan, and was educated in

North Monastery The North Monastery (Irish: ''An Mhainistir Thuaidh''), commonly known as The Mon, is a co-educational education campus comprising Scoil Mhuire Fatima Primary School, North Monastery Co-educational Secondary and Gaelcholáiste Mhuire AG located ...

School. He completed a BA in English and Philosophy and a MA in English at

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 ...

, after which he tutored and lectured in that University, while simultaneously Literature Officer with Triskel Arts Centre in Cork. He was visiting faculty at

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston in the U.S. state of Maine. It is the southernmost of the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universitie ...

. He lives in Dublin with his partner, the poet and playwright

Paula Meehan Paula Meehan (born 1955) is an Irish poet and playwright. Life and work Paula Meehan was born in Dublin in 1955, the eldest of six children. She subsequently moved to London with her parents where she attended St. Elizabeth's Primary School ...

Career

After Theo Dorgan's first two collections, ''The Ordinary House of Love'' and ''Rosa Mundi'', went out of print, Dedalus Press reissued these two titles in a single volume ''What This Earth Cost Us''. He has also published a selected poems in Italian, ''La Case ai Margini del Mundo'', (Faenza, Moby Dick, 1999). Dorgan has edited '' The Great Book of Ireland'' (with Gene Lambert, 1991); ''Revising the Rising'' (with Máirín Ní Dhonnachadha, 1991); ''Irish Poetry Since Kavanagh'' (Dublin, Four Courts Press, 1996); ''Watching the River Flow'' (with Noel Duffy, Dublin, Poetry Ireland/Éigse Éireann, 1999); ''The Great Book of Gaelic'' (with Malcolm Maclean, Edinburgh, Canongate, 2002); and ''The Book of Uncommon Prayer'' (Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2007). He has been Series Editor of the European Poetry Translation Network publications and Director of the collective translation seminars from which the books arose. A former Director of

Poetry Ireland Poetry Ireland ( ga, Éigse Éireann) is an organisation for poets and poetry, in both Irish and English, in the island of Ireland. It is a private nonprofit organisation that receives support from The Arts Council of Ireland and The Arts Council of ...

( ga, Éigse Éireann), Dorgan has worked as a broadcaster of literary programmes on both radio and television. He was presenter of ''Poetry Now'' on

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

Radio 1, and later for RTÉ's TV books programme, ''Imprint''. He was the scriptwriter for the TV documentary series ''Hidden Treasures''. His ''Jason and the Argonauts'', set to music by

Howard Goodall Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was na ...

, was commissioned by and premiered in the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in 2004. A series of text pieces by Dorgan feature in the dance musical ''

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean ...

''; he was specially commissioned to create them for the theatrical show. His songs have been recorded by a number of musicians, including Alan Stivell,

Jimmy Crowley Jimmy Crowley (born 1950) is an Irish folk musician and song collector. He has specialized in collecting and playing traditional songs from County Cork. Crowley started collecting music at the age of 16. His recordings popularised local songs s ...

and Cormac Breathnach.

Awards and recognition

Dorgan was awarded the Listowel Prize for Poetry, 1992 and the O'Shaughnessy Prize for Irish Poetry 2010. 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 ...

, he was appointed as a member of the Arts Council () from 2003 to 2008. He also served on the board of Cork European Capital of Culture 2005. He was awarded the 2015 Poetry Now Award for ''Nine Bright Shiners''.

Works

Poetry

* ''The ordinary house of love'', Salmon Pub., 1990, * ''Rosa Mundi'', Salmon poetry, 1995, * ''La casa ai margini del mondo.'', Translated by M. Giosa, Mobydick, 1998, * ''Sappho's Daughter'', Wave Train Press, 1998, * ''La Hija de Safo'', Translated by Francisco Castaño, Hiperión Ediciones, 2001, * ''What This Earth Cost Us'', Dedalus Press, 2008, * ''Greek'', Dedalus Press, 2010, * ''Making Way'', New Island Books, 2013, * ''Nine Bright Shiners'', Dedalus Press, 2014, * ''Orpheus'', Dedalus Press, 2018, * ''Bailéid Giofógacha'', Coiscéim, 2019

Non-fiction

* ''Sailing for home: a voyage from Antigua to Kinsale'', Penguin Ireland, 2004; Penguin Ireland, 2005, ; Dedalus Press, 2010, * ''Time on the Ocean: A Voyage From Cape Horn to Cape Town'', New Island Books, 2010, ;Editor * * ''Preghiere non-comuni,'' Armenia (1 January 2009)

Translations

* ''Songs of earth and light'', Barbara Korun, Southword Editions, 2005,

References

Sources

* William Stewart, Steven Barfield, ''British and Irish poets: a biographical dictionary, 449–2006'', McFarland, 2007,

External links

Official website for Theo Dorgan

Entry for Theo Dorgan on the Aosdána web page

Dedalus Press author page

Poem by Theo Dorgan in Magma

Nothing Rhymes
''Broadsheet'', 7 August 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorgan, Theo 1953 births Irish poets Living people Aosdána members Writers from Dublin (city) 20th-century Irish writers 20th-century male writers 21st-century Irish writers 21st-century Irish male writers Alumni of University College Cork