Michael Donaghy
Encyclopedia
Michael Donaghy was an award-winning New York poet and musician, who lived in London from 1985.
and did postgraduate work at the University of Chicago
, where, at 25, he edited the Chicago Review
. Donaghy commented “I owe everything I know about poetry to the public library system (in New York City) and not to my miseducation at university [...] I mean, the Bronx, who knows, now it may be full of cappuccino bars and bookshops, but back in those days it wasn’t. My parents would say something like ‘go out and play in the burning wreckage until dinnertime’ and I’d make a beeline for the library.” He founded the acclaimed Irish music ensemble, Samradh Music and played the tin whistle, the bodhran
and was a flute player of distinction, music echoing in the themes and forms of his writing.
In 1985, he moved to the Green Lanes
area of Harringay
, north London to join his partner and fellow musician, Maddy Paxman, whom he married in 2003; their son, Ruairi, was born in 1996. He joined the London poetry workshop, founded by the Belfast poet Robert Greacen
and later chaired by Matthew Sweeney, whose members included Vicki Feaver
, Ruth Padel
, Jo Shapcott
, Maurice Riordan
, Eva Salzman
and Don Paterson
. Rapidly establishing himself on the poetry scene, he published his first full collection, Shibboleth
, in 1988 which won the National Poetry Competition
. Errata followed in 1993, and Conjure in 2000. Recognition came in the form of the Geoffrey Faber
and Cholmondeley
awards and the Whitbread
and Forward
prizes, among others. In 2003, he teamed up with Cyborg
scientist Kevin Warwick
and wrote Grimoire
. He continued to play in various Irish music groups, as well as the early line-up of Lammas
, the jazz/traditional crossover band led by Tim Garland
and poet Don Paterson
. He was a creative writing tutor for the Arvon Foundation
and the Poetry Society
and later ran an extension course for City University London. He wrote and reviewed for Poetry Review, Poetry
, The New Yorker
and The Times Literary Supplement. His poetry, influential to a younger generation of poets, is noted for its metaphysical elegance and playfulness, and his skillful use of form.
"The death of Michael Donaghy in 2004 at the age of 50 has been one of the most deeply felt losses to the poetry world in recent years. Not since Sylvia Plath
almost half a century ago had an American poet living in Britain so decisively entered the bloodstream of his times." The Times
described him as "one of the most widely respected figures on the British poetry scene and a fierce defender of poetry as a source of pleasure and truth." Times article September 25, 2004 "Michael Donaghy" His fourth collection Safest was published postumously in 2005 and a prose collection The Shape of the Dance in 2009. "Between the flash and the report". 4 April 2009. Guardian book review.
Life and career
Donaghy was born into an Irish family and grew up in the Bronx, New York, losing both parents in early life. He studied at Fordham UniversityFordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
and did postgraduate work at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, where, at 25, he edited the Chicago Review
Chicago Review
The Chicago Review is a literary magazine published four times per year in the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago. It was founded in 1946. Three stories published in the Chicago Review have won the O. Henry Prize...
. Donaghy commented “I owe everything I know about poetry to the public library system (in New York City) and not to my miseducation at university [...] I mean, the Bronx, who knows, now it may be full of cappuccino bars and bookshops, but back in those days it wasn’t. My parents would say something like ‘go out and play in the burning wreckage until dinnertime’ and I’d make a beeline for the library.” He founded the acclaimed Irish music ensemble, Samradh Music and played the tin whistle, the bodhran
Bodhrán
The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...
and was a flute player of distinction, music echoing in the themes and forms of his writing.
In 1985, he moved to the Green Lanes
Green Lanes
Green Lanes, London, is a main road in North London and forms part of the A105. At approximately 7.5 miles from end to end, it is one of the longest streets in the capital....
area of Harringay
Harringay
Harringay is a residential area of North London, part of the London Borough of Haringey, United Kingdom. It is centred on the section of Green Lanes running between the northern boundary of Finsbury Park up to the southern boundary of Duckett's Common, not far from Turnpike Lane.-Location:The...
, north London to join his partner and fellow musician, Maddy Paxman, whom he married in 2003; their son, Ruairi, was born in 1996. He joined the London poetry workshop, founded by the Belfast poet Robert Greacen
Robert Greacen
Robert Greacen was an Irish poet and member of Aosdána. Born in Derry, Ireland, on 24 October 1920, he was educated at Methodist College Belfast and Trinity College Dublin...
and later chaired by Matthew Sweeney, whose members included Vicki Feaver
Vicki Feaver
Vicki Feaver is an English poet. She studied music at Durham University and English at University College, London, and later worked as a lecturer and tutor in English and Creative Writing at University College, Chichester, where she is an Emeritus Professor.She now lives with her psychiatrist...
, Ruth Padel
Ruth Padel
Ruth Sophia Padel is a British poet, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Zoological Society of London. She also writes non-fiction and more recently fiction, broadcasts on wildlife, poetry and literature for BBC Radio 3 and 4, and is Writer in Residence at The Environment Institute,...
, Jo Shapcott
Jo Shapcott
Jo Shapcott FRSL, is an English poet, editor and lecturer who has won the National Poetry Competition, the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Costa Book of the Year Award, a Forward Poetry Prize and the Cholmondeley Award.-Career:...
, Maurice Riordan
Maurice Riordan
Maurice Riordan is an Irish poet, translator, and editor. Born in Lisgoold, County Cork, Riordan has published three collections of poetry: A Word from the Loki , a largely London-based collection which was a Poetry Book Society Choice and shortlisted for the T. S...
, Eva Salzman
Eva Salzman
Eva Salzman is a noted contemporary American poet.Eva Salzman was born in 1960 in New York City, and grew up in Brooklyn where – from the age of 10 until 22 – she was a dancer and later a choreographer. She was educated at Bennington College and Columbia University, moving to Britain in 1985...
and Don Paterson
Don Paterson
Don Paterson, OBE, FRSL is a Scottish poet, writer and musician.-Background:Paterson was born in Dundee. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 1990 and his poem A Private Bottling won the Arvon Foundation International Poetry Competition in 1993. He was included on the list of 20 poets chosen for the...
. Rapidly establishing himself on the poetry scene, he published his first full collection, Shibboleth
Shibboleth
A shibboleth is a custom, principle, or belief distinguishing a particular class or group of people, especially a long-standing one regarded as outmoded or no longer important...
, in 1988 which won the National Poetry Competition
National Poetry Competition
The National Poetry Competition is an annual poetry prize established in 1978. It is run by the UK-based Poetry Society and accepts entries from all over the world, with over 10,000 poems being submitted to the competition each year...
. Errata followed in 1993, and Conjure in 2000. Recognition came in the form of the Geoffrey Faber
Geoffrey Faber
Sir Geoffrey Cust Faber was a British academic, publisher and poet.Geoffrey Cust Faber was educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford...
and Cholmondeley
Cholmondeley Award
The Cholmondeley Award is an annual award for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the late Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966...
awards and the Whitbread
Whitbread
Whitbread PLC is a global hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company headquartered in Dunstable, United Kingdom. Its largest division is Premier Inn, which is the largest hotel brand in the UK with around 580 hotels and over 40,000 rooms. Its Costa Coffee chain has around 1,600 stores across 25...
and Forward
Forward Poetry Prize
The Forward Poetry Prizes were created in 1991. The aim of the prizes is to extend the audience for contemporary poetry. Until the T.S. Eliot Prize remuneration was increased to £15,000 plus £1000 to each of nine runners-up, the Forward was the United Kingdom's most valuable annual poetry...
prizes, among others. In 2003, he teamed up with Cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
scientist Kevin Warwick
Kevin Warwick
Kevin Warwick is a British scientist and professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom...
and wrote Grimoire
Grimoire
A grimoire is a textbook of magic. Such books typically include instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination and also how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, and demons...
. He continued to play in various Irish music groups, as well as the early line-up of Lammas
Lammas
In some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere, August 1 is Lammas Day , the festival of the wheat harvest, and is the first harvest festival of the year. On this day it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop...
, the jazz/traditional crossover band led by Tim Garland
Tim Garland
Tim Garland is a British jazz saxophonist, composer and band-leader. He is also known for his innovative bass clarinet playing and for his prolific output as composer, blurring the boundaries between modern jazz and classical concert music.As a performer, he has worked widely both in Britain and...
and poet Don Paterson
Don Paterson
Don Paterson, OBE, FRSL is a Scottish poet, writer and musician.-Background:Paterson was born in Dundee. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 1990 and his poem A Private Bottling won the Arvon Foundation International Poetry Competition in 1993. He was included on the list of 20 poets chosen for the...
. He was a creative writing tutor for the Arvon Foundation
Arvon Foundation
The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which promotes creative writing. It is based in the Free Word Centre for literature, literacy and free expression in London.-History:...
and the Poetry Society
Poetry Society
The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry".The Society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society in 1912...
and later ran an extension course for City University London. He wrote and reviewed for Poetry Review, Poetry
Poetry (magazine)
Poetry , published in Chicago, Illinois since 1912, is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Published by the Poetry Foundation and currently edited by Christian Wiman, the magazine has a circulation of 30,000 and prints 300 poems per year out of approximately...
, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
and The Times Literary Supplement. His poetry, influential to a younger generation of poets, is noted for its metaphysical elegance and playfulness, and his skillful use of form.
Death
He died suddenly of a brain haemorrhage on September 17, 2004. 24 September 2004 Guardian article. "Michale Donaghy. Obit. David Wheatley wrote in The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
"The death of Michael Donaghy in 2004 at the age of 50 has been one of the most deeply felt losses to the poetry world in recent years. Not since Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
almost half a century ago had an American poet living in Britain so decisively entered the bloodstream of his times." The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
described him as "one of the most widely respected figures on the British poetry scene and a fierce defender of poetry as a source of pleasure and truth." Times article September 25, 2004 "Michael Donaghy" His fourth collection Safest was published postumously in 2005 and a prose collection The Shape of the Dance in 2009. "Between the flash and the report". 4 April 2009. Guardian book review.
Honours and awards
- 1987: National Poetry CompetitionNational Poetry CompetitionThe National Poetry Competition is an annual poetry prize established in 1978. It is run by the UK-based Poetry Society and accepts entries from all over the world, with over 10,000 poems being submitted to the competition each year...
(2nd Prize) - 1990: Geoffrey Faber Memorial PrizeGeoffrey Faber Memorial PrizeThe Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize is a British literary prize established in 1963 in tribute to Geoffrey Faber, founder and first Chairman publisher Faber & Faber...
- 1992: Arts Council Writers AwardArts Council of Great BritainThe Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
- 1994: Selected for New Generation Poets Promotion
- 1999: Arts Council Writers AwardArts Council EnglandArts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
- 1999: The Poetry SocietyPoetry SocietyThe Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry".The Society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society in 1912...
Reader in Residence - 1999: Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
- 2000: Poetry Book SocietyPoetry Book SocietyThe Poetry Book Society was founded by T. S. Eliot and friends in 1953. Each quarter the Society selects one recently published collection of poetry for its members. The Society also publishes the quarterly poetry journal Bulletin, and it administers the competition for the annual T. S. Eliot Prize...
Choice, Conjure - 2000: Forward Poetry PrizeForward Poetry PrizeThe Forward Poetry Prizes were created in 1991. The aim of the prizes is to extend the audience for contemporary poetry. Until the T.S. Eliot Prize remuneration was increased to £15,000 plus £1000 to each of nine runners-up, the Forward was the United Kingdom's most valuable annual poetry...
(Best Collection) for Conjure
Selected works
- 1988 Shibboleth, Oxford University Press
- 1993 Errata Oxford University Press
- 1997 Penguin Modern Poets 11 (contributor with Andrew Motion and Hugo Williams), London, Penguin
- 2000 Dances Learned Last Night: Poems 1975-1995 London, Picador
- 2000 Conjure Picador
- 2005 101 Poems about Childhood (editor), London, Faber & Faber
- 2005 Michael Donaghy Reading from his poems (CD) The Poetry Archive
- 2009 Collected Poems, Picador. (Posthumous)
- 209 The Shape of the Dance: Essays, Interviews and Digressions Picador. (Posthumous)
External links
- Profile and audio recordings of Donaghy reading. Poetry Archive
- Seán O'Brien, The Guardian Obituary Page, September 24, 2004
- Michael Donaghy at the Literary Encyclopedia
- two poems by Michael Donaghy
- "The Unconscious Power of Form: John Stammers interviews Michael Donaghy" From Magma No 8 - Winter 1996