Mary O’Donnell
“Thoughtful and sensuous, sometimes dashing and vibrant, her rhythms are those of life itself…. Gifted with the historical sense, like Elizabeth Bishop she combines the topical with the longer view. A poet to read and re-read.” – Derek Mahon
For most of her life, Mary O’Donnell has written in the three genres of poetry, short story collections, and novels. In her early life, she taught German and English before moving into journalism as The Sunday Tribune’s drama critic, and later still broadcasting several series of programs for Ireland’s national radio station RTÉ. She has received many awards in recognition of her work, including an An Post/Irish Book Award for Poetry in 2023, an Allingham Literary Award, and a Listowel Writers Week Award. She is a member since 2001 of the Irish affiliation of artists, Aosdána. She was a professor for eleven years on the Carlow University Pittsburgh MFA in Creative Writing, also writer in residence at University College Dublin. She has taught in the Irish prison system, and also at Galway University, Maynooth University, and the University of São Paulo. Recent books are the highly praised short story collection Walking Ghosts (Mercier Press) and the celebrated novel Sweep the Cobwebs off the Sky (Epoque Press UK). Tenderness is her first poetry collection with Wake Forest University Press. Born in County Monaghan, she now lives in County Kildare.
Author photo by Conor Horgan.
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