Dennis O’Driscoll

Dennis O’Driscoll was born in Tipperary. His eight books of poetry include Exemplary Damages (2002), New and Selected Poems (2004), and Reality Check (2007), all published by Anvil Press. Selections of his essays and reviews were published by the Gallery Press: Troubled Thoughts, Majestic Dreams (2001) and The Outnumbered Poet (2013). His book, Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney (Faber & Faber), was published in 2008. He edited The Bloodaxe Book of Poetry Quotations (2006). He was awarded an honorary doctorate in literature by University College, Dublin in 2009. Other honours included a Lannan Literary Award in 1999, the 2005 E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the 2006 O’Shaughnessy Award for Poetry from the Center for Irish Studies (Minnesota). A member of Aosdána, the Irish academy of artists, he worked for almost forty years in Ireland’s Revenue and Customs service. He died on Christmas Eve, 2012. Author photo © Kim Haughton