Irish Poet John F. Deane in Vermont, May 2

Irish Poet John F. Deane will read at the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum (Main Street, St. Johnsbury, VT) on Friday May 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Deane, known as both poet and editor as well as novelist, was born on Achill Island, County Mayo, Ireland in 1943. After working as a teacher at St. Aidan's Secondary School, Whitehall, Dublin, for 10 years, in 1978, he founded the national poetry society, Poetry Ireland, and resigned from teaching in 1979 to develop the society and write full-time.
In 1979, Deane launched the poetry magazine The Poetry Ireland Review. Then in 1985, he founded The Dedalus Press, which he continues to edit and direct.
Noted in his work are collections of poetry and fiction. He has won the O’Shaughnessy Award for Irish Poetry, the Marten Toonder Award for Literature and poetry and prizes from Italy and Romania. In 1996 he was elected Secretary-General of the European Academy of Poetry.
Deane’s latest publications include a poetry collection “The Instruments of Art” (2005); “In Dogged Loyalty”, essays on religious poetry (2006); and “The Heather Fields and Other Stories” (2007). His forthcoming poetry collection, “A Little Book of Hours,” will be published in 2008. He is a member of Aosdána, the body established by the Irish Arts Council to honor artists “whose work had made an outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland”. In 2007 the French Government honored him by making him “Chevalier de l’ordre des arts et des lettres”.
The program is free and handicapped accessible. For information call 802-748-8291.