Kinsella, Thomas ,
1928-2021, Irish poet and translator, b. Inchicore, Dublin. Kinsella studied
at Dublin's University College and began working as a civil servant in 1946.
Beginning in the early '50s, he began publishing his poetry, including
Another September (1958). His early work drew on the
formalism of poets like W.H. Auden tempered with an Irish lyricism.
In 1965, he left Ireland to accept a position teaching at Southern Illinois
Univ. at Carbondale (1965-69), and then was hired by Temple Univ., teaching
there for 20 years (1970-90). Following his move to the U.S., his poetry
showed much more influence from 20th century modernist writers and
psychological theory, often tackling personal subjects. He also wrote poems
that reflected the Irish "troubles" of the early '70s, including "Butcher's
Dozen" (1972) inspired by the Bloody Sunday killings. In addition to his own
poetry, he translated several early Irish texts, notably the Tain Bo
Cuailnge ("The Cattle Raid of Cooley," trans. 1969). Kinsella
founded Peppercanister publishers in 1972 to publish his own works in
limited editions. In the final decades of his life, his poetry took another
turn to historical topics away from the personal subjects of his midperiod
work. Among his awards and honors include the Honorary Freedom of the City
of Dublin (2007), and an honorary doctorate in literature from Trinity
College Dublin (2018). His brother, John Kinsella (1932-2021),
was a noted composer.
See his The Dual Tradition: An Essay on Poetry and Politics in Ireland
(1995), Collected Poems (1996; rev. 2001) ;
studies by M. Harmon, The Poetry of Thomas Kinsella (1974),
Thomas Kinsella: Designing for the Exact Needs (2008),
D. Johnston, Irish Poetry after Joyce (1985).
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