20/12: Twenty Irish Poets Respond to Science

IGGY MCGOVERN was born in 1948 in Coleraine. Since 1979 he has lived in Dublin, where he lectured in Physics at Trinity College until retirement in 2013. He has published four collections of poetry: The King of Suburbia (Dedalus Press, 2005), Safe House (Dedalus Press, 2010), A Mystic Dream of 4: A sonnet sequence based on the life of William Rowan Hamilton (Quaternia Press, 2013) and The Eyes of Isaac Newton (Dedalus Press, 2017). He edited the anthology 20|12: Twenty Irish Poets Respond to Science in Twelve Lines (Dedalus Press/Quaternia Press, 2012), marking the European Science Open Forum in Dublin. McGovern’s awards include The Hennessy Award for Poetry, The Glen Dimplex New Writers Award for Poetry and The Ireland Chair of Poetry Bursary. He has read his poetry at international festivals in Europe, North America and Australia/New Zealand. McGovern describes his poetry as “characterised by form & rhyme and humour; it also reflects my professional career as a physicist. I am interested in exploring the common ground between science and poetry". In the latter regard he has contributed to the ELINAS (Literature and Natural Science) project of Erlangen University and to the Bridges (Maths-Art) conference series.  Eamon Grennan, reviewing Safe House for The Irish Times, writes “Light, rarely lightweight, McGovern’s voice is very much his own … unaffectedly honest, instructive and entertaining”. PERSONAL STATEMENT "My poetry is characterised by form & rhyme and humour; it also reflects my professional career as a physicist. I am interested in exploring the common ground between Science and Literature." REVIEW EXCERPT “Light, rarely lightweight, McGovern’s voice is very much his own … unaffectedly honest, instructive and entertaining” — Eamon Grennan, The Irish Times, 2011