- John Jordan (poet)
John Jordan (1930–1988) was an Irish poet born in
Dublin on 8 April 1930. He was educated at Synge Street C.B.S.,University College, Dublin (U.C.D.) andPembroke College , Oxford. In his teens he acted on the stage of theGate Theatre , Dublin, before winning a Scholarship in English and French toOxford University from U.C.D. In the mid-1950s he returned to U.C.D. as a lecturer in English and taught there until the end of the 1960s. He also lectured on sabbatical leave at theMemorial University in Newfoundland and briefly atPrinceton University in the U.S. He was a celebrated literary critic from the late 1950s until his death in June, 1988 inCardiff , Wales, where he had been participating in the Merriman Summer School.He was also a short-story writer, a poet and a broadcaster. In 1962 he re-founded and edited the literary magazine "Poetry Ireland". In this journal, he introduced a number of poets who were to become quite famous later, including
Paul Durcan , Michael Hartnett andSeamus Heaney . This first series of "Poetry Ireland" lasted until 1968–69. In 1981 he became the first editor of the new magazine published by the Poetry Ireland Society, called "Poetry Ireland Review ". His "Collected Poems" (Dedalus Press) and "Collected Stories" (Poolbeg Press) were edited by his literary executor,Hugh McFadden , and published in Dublin in 1991. His Selected Prose, "Crystal Clear", also edited by McFadden, was published by Lilliput Press in Dublin in 2006. Jordan's "Selected Poems", edited with an Introduction by Hugh McFadden, was published in February 2008 by Dedalus Press.Bibliography
Collections of poetry
*"Patrician Stations", New Writers Press (Dublin, 1971)
*"A Raft From Flotsam", Gallery Press (Dublin, 1975)
*"Blood and Stations", Gallery Press (Dublin, 1976)
*"With Whom Did I Share The Crystal", (St. Bruno Press, 1980)
*"Collected Poems", Dedalus Press, (Dublin, 1991)
*"Selected Poems" , Dedalus Press, (Dublin, 2008)Prose
*"Yarns", Poolbeg Press, (Dublin, 1977)
*"Collected Stories", Poolbeg Press, (Dublin, 1991)
*Selected Prose: "Crystal Clear", Lilliput Press (Dublin, 2006)
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