Conor O’Callaghan

Poet Conor O’Callaghan may best be known to fans of Wake Forest Press for his books of poetry such as Fiction and Seatown and Earlier Poems. He will also be editing our Wake Forest Series of Irish Poetry, Volume III, which will be released next year. However, did you know that he also wrote a memoir about the Roy Keane football scandal?

Red Mist: Roy Keane and the Irish World Cup Blues is a memoir that explores the reaction of O’Callaghan and his son to Roy Keane leaving the Irish national football team while the team was preparing to play Japan during the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Keane had gotten into a public fight with the team’s manager over Keane’s comments to the press about his dissatisfaction with the team’s training facility. After the fight Keane left and went home, leaving the team without a replacement. Ireland ended up losing to Spain in the second round. Red Mist explores public conversations about the incident as well as the notion of celebrity and national aspiration.