Macdara Woods (1942 – 15 June 2018) was an Irish

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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

Biography

Woods was born in

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 ...

, where he attended

Gonzaga College Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Ir ...

and then

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

. He married the poet

Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin (; born 1942) is an Irish poet and academic. She was the Ireland Professor of Poetry (2016–19). Biography Ní Chuilleanáin was born in Cork in 1942, the daughter of Eilís Dillon and Professor Cormac Ó Cuillean� ...

. They had one son, Niall, a musician. He lived in Dublin and

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

. Woods was a founder-editor of the Irish literary magazine '' Cyphers''. He died on 15 June 2018 in

St. James's Hospital St. James's Hospital ''Confirms spelling of name as "James's" and Irish name'' () is a teaching hospital in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Its academic partner is Trinity College Dublin. It is managed by Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. ...

, aged 76.

Awards

He was elected a member of

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association or academy of artists, each of whom must have produced a distinguished body of work of genuine originality. It was created in 1981 by the country's Arts Council on the initiati ...

(an organisation established by the Irish Government to honour those who have made an outstanding contribution to the Arts in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

) in 1986.

Publications

;Poetry collections * ''Decimal D. Sec Drinks in a Bar in Marrakesh'' (1970), New Writers’ Press * ''Early Morning Matins'' (1973), Gallery Press * ''The King of the Dead & Other Libyan Tales'' (1978), Martin, Brian & O’Keeffe * ''Stopping the Lights in Ranelagh'' (1987, reprinted 1988), Dedalus Press * ''Miz Moon'' (1988), Dedalus Press * ''The Hanged Man Was Not Surrendering'' (1990), Dedalus Press * ''Notes From the Countries of Blood-Red Flowers'' (1994), Dedalus Press * ''Selected Poems'' (1996), Dedalus Press * ''Knowledge in the Blood, New and Selected Poems'' (2000, 2007), Dedalus Press * ''The Nightingale Water'' (2001), Dedalus Press * ''Artichoke Wine'' (2006), Dedalus Press * ''The Cotard Dimension'' (2011), Dedalus Press * ''Collected Poems'' (2012), Dedalus Press (in association with the

Arts Council of Ireland The Arts Council (sometimes called the Arts Council of Ireland; legally ) is the independent "Irish government agency for developing the arts". About It was established in 1951 by the government of Ireland, to encourage interest in Irish art ( ...

) * ''From Sandymount To The Hill Of Howth'' (2014) Cyphers, Dublin. * ''Music From The Big Tent'' (2016) Dedalus Press In Italian: * ''Biglietto di Sola Andata'' (1998) Moby Dick Editrice, Faenza * ''Above Pesaro/Con Pesaro ai Miei Piedi'' (1999) Volumnia Editrice, Perugia ;Edited books * ''The Kilkenny Anthology'' (1991), Kilkenny Co. Council. * (with Jim Vaughan), ''Present Tense: Words and Pictures'' (2006), Mayo Co. Council Woods's work has been translated into many languages. He has collaborated with musicians, notably Brendan Graham (''Winter Fire & Snow'', performed by

Anúna Anúna (stylized in all caps) is a vocal ensemble formed in Ireland in 1987 by Irish composer Michael McGlynn under the name An Uaithne. Taking the current name in 1991,AllMusic Biography/ref> the group has recorded 18 albums and achieved a ...

and others),

Benjamin Dwyer Benjamin Dwyer (born 3 August 1965) is an Irish composer, guitarist and musicologist. Life Dwyer was born in Dublin and studied the classical guitar at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, Dublin, and at the Royal Academy of Music, London. ...

(''In the Ranelagh Gardens''), Militia (''Above Pesaro/Con Pesaro ai Miei Piedi'') and Richard Hartshorne (''The Cello Suites'').

References

External links

Death notice

Dedalus Press page
*
Aosdana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Macdara 1942 births 2018 deaths Aosdána members Irish translators Irish male poets Writers from County Dublin 20th-century Irish translators People educated at Gonzaga College Alumni of University College Dublin 20th-century Irish poets 21st-century Irish poets