Writing Home: The ‘New Irish’ Poets

Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi is a poet, communications officer and content creator. She was born in Lagos, Nigeria and grew up in Dublin, Ireland. A recent honors graduate of University College Dublin, her work specializes in creative writing, copy writing and editing/proofreading. She has edited and contributed to Otwo magazine for The University Observer (University College Dublin). Her work has been published in various magazines both online and in print. Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi has performed in festivals, cultural events and workshops around Ireland, and has worked with various arts organisations and publishing agencies.

PAT BORAN was born in 1963 in Portlaoise, in the Irish midlands, and has long since lived in Dublin. He has held a number of posts as Writer-in-Residence with libraries and third-level institutions. He has published more than a dozen books of poetry and prose, most recently Then Again (Dedalus Press, 2019) and Waveforms: Bull Island Haiku (Orange Crate Books, 2016) with photographs by the author. A Man Is Only As Good: A Pocket Selected Poems was published in 2017 by Orange Crate Books. Editions of his poetry have been published in Italian, Hungarian, Macedonian and Portuguese, with further works in progress. Pat Boran's non-fiction includes the popular writers' handbook The Portable Creative Writing Workshop (various editions) and A Short History of Dublin (Mercier Press). His humorous memoir The Invisible Prison: Scenes from an Irish Childhood, was published by Dedalus Press in 2009 and published in Italian as Un'Infanzia Irlandese in 2019 by Edizioni Kolibris. A former editor of Poetry Ireland Review and a former presenter of The Poetry Programme and The Enchanted Way on RTÉ Radio 1, Pat Boran has edited numerous anthologies, among them Wingspan: A Dedalus Sampler (2006), Flowing, Still: Irish Poets on Irish Poetry (2009), The Bee-Loud Glade (2009), Shine On: Irish writers supporting those affected by mental ill health (2011), the 2014 Dublin One City, One Book choice If Ever You Go: A Map of Dublin in Poetry and Song (with co-editor Gerard Smyth) and, with co-editor Eugene O'Connell, The Deep Heart's Core: Irish Poets Revisit a Touchstone Poem (2017). During lockdown in Spring 2020 he edited and produced The Word Ark: A Pocket Book of Animal Poems, illustrated by the Sicilian artist Gaetano Tranchino. Pat Boran’s distinctions include The Patrick Kavanagh Award in 1989 and the US-based Lawrence O'Shaughnessy Poetry Award in 2008. He is a member of Aosdána, the Irish affiliation of creative artists. (See also www.patboran.com)