Fred Johnston (writer)
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Fred Johnston (1951-2024) was an Irish poet, novelist, literary critic and musician. He was the founder and current director of the Western Writers' Centre in
Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
. He co-founded the Irish Writers' Co-operative in 1974, and founded Galway's annual
Cúirt International Festival of Literature The Cúirt International Festival of Literature is an annual literary festival held since 1985 in Galway in Ireland. The Irish language word ''cúirt'' (pronounced ) means "court". The festival consists of a variety of events taking place over t ...
in 1986.


Life

Johnson was born in
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,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
, into a mixed, unorthodox background: his father's side were Belfast,
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, and both Unionist and
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ist; his mother's side were
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, Catholic, followers of
Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...
and admirers of the
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. He spent the first seven years of his life in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Canada. He went to
St Malachy's College St Malachy's College, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the oldest Catholic diocesan college in Ulster. The college's alumni and students are known as Malachians. History The college, founded by William Crolly, Bishop William Crolly, opened on th ...
's grammar school in Belfast from 1962–68. During these years he learnt guitar and banjo and listened to and played folk music. He performed on the cabaret lounge circuit, made appearances on
Ulster TV UTV (formerly Ulster Television, branded on air as ITV1 since 2020) is the ITV (TV network), ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the ar ...
, released some singles and, aged 16, an LP of rebel and football songs called ''The Flags Are Out for Celtic''. After school he moved to
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
and worked in journalism, writing for the ''
Evening Press The ''Evening Press'' was an Irish newspaper which was printed from 1954 until 1995. It was set up by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group, and was originally edited by Douglas Gageby. Its principal competitor was the ''Evening Herald'', whic ...
'' and ''
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'', and in
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. He had several prose pieces published in the New Irish Writing section (edited by David Marcus) of the ''Evening Press'', and won a Hennessy Literary Award (the judges being
V. S. Pritchett Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett (also known as VSP; 16 December 1900 – 20 March 1997) was a British writer and literary critic. Pritchett was known particularly for his short stories, collated in a number of volumes. Among his most noteworthy w ...
and
James Plunkett James Plunkett Kelly, or James Plunkett (21 May 1920 – 28 May 2003), was an Irish writer. He was educated at Synge Street CBS. Kelly grew up among the Dublin working class and they, along with the petty bourgeoisie and lower intelligentsi ...
) in 1972. In 1974 he met up with
Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. He first achieved recognition for his short story collection, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia,'' which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in ...
and
Peter Sheridan Peter Sheridan (born 1952) is an Irish playwright, screenwriter and director. He lives in Dublin. His awards include the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 1978."Judges shortlist 16 authors", ''The Irish Times'', 4 September 1999 (NB article ...
to found the Irish Writers' Co-operative, a publishing outlet for new Irish fiction. Early publications under its imprint Co-op Books were
Desmond Hogan Desmond Hogan (born 10 December 1950) is an Irish writer. Awarded the 1977 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and 1980 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, his oeuvre comprises novels, plays, short stories and travel writing. The ''Cork Examiner'' said: ...
's ''The Ikon Maker'' (1976) and
Ronan Sheehan Ronan Sheehan (born 1953) is an Irish novelist, short story writer and essayist. He was an early member of the Irish Writers' Co-operative (founded in 1974 by Fred Johnston, Neil Jordan and Peter Sheridan) and its Secretary from 1975 to 198 ...
's ''Tennis Players'' (1977). He moved to Galway in 1978 and in 1979 published his first collection of poems, ''Life and Death in the Midlands'', and a collection of short stories, ''Picture of a Girl in a Spanish Hat''. From the early 1980s to the mid 1990s, Johnston contributed poetry and a short story to the
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international literature, arts and affairs magazine, ''
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''. In 1986 he founded the poetry festival Cúirt, which became an annual literary festival in Galway and is now one of the largest of its kind in Ireland. He ended his association with it in 1988. In the 1990s he formed an Irish traditional folk group, Parson's Hat, which released two albums: ''Cutty Wren'' and ''The Better Match''. Tracks by the group have been included on a number of compilation albums. In 2000 he received the Prix de l'Ambassade Translation bursary to work on translations of the French poet Michel Martin. He has also translated the Senegalese poet Babacar Sall, and more recently the Breton poet Colette Wittorski. In 2004 he received The Ireland Fund of Monaco bursary to be writer-in-residence for a month at the
Princess Grace Irish Library The Princess Grace Irish Library is a library situated in Monaco named after Princess Grace, the wife and consort of Prince Rainier III. Among its collections of Irish literature, the library hosts the personal collection of Irish books and musi ...
in Monaco, where he continued working on his novel-in-progress ''The Neon Rose'' (published 2007), wrote some new poems, and sourced some Monégasque poems which he later translated. In 2005 he founded the Western Writers' Centre, or in Irish Ionad Scríbhneoiri Chaitlín Maude (the Caitlín Maude Writers' Centre, after the Galway Gaeltacht poet), which bills itself as "the only writers' centre West of the Shannon". The centre holds readings, lectures, workshops and courses, and organises the
Gort Gort ( or ) is a town of around 2,800 inhabitants in County Galway in the west of Ireland. Located near the border with County Clare, the town lies between the Burren and the Slieve Aughty and is served by the R458 road (Ireland), R458 and R460 ...
literary festival. He released two solo albums, ''Get You'' and ''Local Papers''. Johnston was a regular poetry reviewer for ''
Poetry Ireland Review ''Poetry Ireland Review'' is a journal of Irish poetry published three times a year by Poetry Ireland, the national Irish poetry organisation. ''Poetry Ireland Review'' publishes the work of both emerging and established Irish and internation ...
'' and ''Books Ireland'' and on occasion for the '' Southern Humanities Review'', ''
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'' and ''
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'', and has contributed to the literary magazines '' Orbis'', ''
New Letters ''New Letters'', the name it has been published under since 1970, is one of the oldest literary magazines in the United States and continues to publish award-winning poems and fiction. The magazine is based in Kansas City, Missouri. History and ...
'', ''
The Southern Review ''The Southern Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established by Robert Penn Warren in 1935 at the behest of Charles W. Pipkin and funded by Huey Long as a part of his investment in Louisiana State University. It publishes ficti ...
'', '' The Seneca Review'', and ''Irish Studies Review''.


Books


Poetry

* ''Life and Death in the Midlands'' (Enniskerry: Tansy Books, 1979)
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* ''A Scarce Light'' (Dublin: Beaver Row Press, 1985) * ''Song at the Edge of the World'' (Galway: Salmon Poetry, 1987) * ''Measuring Angles'' (with cassette) (Spiddal: Cló Iar-Chonnachta, 1993) * ''Browne'' (Belfast: Lapwing Publications, 1993) * ''Canzoni con Accompagnamento d'Arpa'' (''Songs for Harp Accompaniment'', translated into Italian by Daniele Serafini) (Faenza: MobyDick, 1996) OCL
35075289
* ''True North'' (Cliffs of Moher: Salmon Poetry, 1998) * ''Being Anywhere: New & Selected Poems'' (Belfast: Lagan Press, 2001) * ''Paris Without Maps'' (Dingwall: Sandstone Press, 2003) * ''The Oracle Room'' (Blaenau Ffestiniog: Cinnamon Press, 2007)


Novels

* ''Atalanta: A Novel'' (Cork: The Collins Press, 2000) * ''Mapping God = Le Tracé de Dieu'' (in English and French) (Galway: Wynkin deWorde, 2003) * ''The Neon Rose'' (Bristol: Bluechrome Publishing, 2007)


Short stories

* ''Picture of a Girl in a Spanish Hat'' (Enniskerry: Tansy Books, 1979) OCL
19678188
* ''Keeping the Night Watch'' (Cork: The Collins Press, 1998) * ''Dancing in the Asylum'' (Cardigan:
Parthian Books Parthian Books is an independent publisher based in Cardigan, Ceredigion, Cardigan, Wales. Editorially-led, it publishes a range of contemporary fiction, poetry, drama, art books, Translation, literature in translation, and non-fiction. Since its ...
, 2011)


Plays

* ''No Earthly Pole''


Translations

* ''Northern Lights'' (poems by Colette Wittorski, from French) (Belfast: Lapwing Publications, 2007)


Notes


External links


The Western Writers' Centre – Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Fred 1951 births Male poets from Northern Ireland Male guitarists from Northern Ireland Translators from Northern Ireland French–English translators Male novelists from Northern Ireland 20th-century guitarists from Northern Ireland 20th-century poets from Northern Ireland 21st-century poets from Northern Ireland 21st-century novelists from Northern Ireland Male short story writers from Northern Ireland 20th-century short story writers from Northern Ireland 21st-century short story writers from Northern Ireland