Sinead Morrissey
Encyclopedia
Sinéad Morrissey is a poet from Northern Ireland
.
, she was educated at Trinity College, Dublin
, where she took BA and PhD degrees, and won the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award
in 1990. She has published four collections of poetry: There Was Fire in Vancouver (1996), Between Here and There (2001), The State of the Prisons (2005), and Through the Square Window (2009), the second, third and fourth of which were shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize
. After periods living in Japan
and New Zealand
she now lives in Belfast
, where she has been writer-in-residence at Queen's University, Belfast and currently lectures.
Morrissey has a distinctive enrapt style of delivery. She learns her poems by heart and presents them with a crystal sharp vocal intensity that has the power to astonish an audience.
Her collection, The State of the Prisons, was shortlisted for the Poetry Now Award
in 2006. In November 2007, she received a Lannan Foundation Fellowship for "distinctive literary merit and for demonstrating potential for continued outstanding work". Her poem "Through the Square Window" won first prize in the 2007 British National Poetry Competition
. Her collection, Through the Square Window, won the Poetry Now Award
for 2010.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
Life
Raised in BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, she was educated at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, where she took BA and PhD degrees, and won the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award
Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award
The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award is an Irish poetry award for a collection of poems by an author who has not previously been published in collected form. It is confined to poets born on the island of Ireland, or of Irish nationality, or a long-term resident of Ireland. It is based on an open...
in 1990. She has published four collections of poetry: There Was Fire in Vancouver (1996), Between Here and There (2001), The State of the Prisons (2005), and Through the Square Window (2009), the second, third and fourth of which were shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize
T. S. Eliot Prize
The T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry is awarded by the Poetry Book Society to "the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or the Republic of Ireland" in any particular year. The Prize was inaugurated in 1993 in celebration of the Poetry Book Society's 40th birthday and in...
. After periods living in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
she now lives in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, where she has been writer-in-residence at Queen's University, Belfast and currently lectures.
Morrissey has a distinctive enrapt style of delivery. She learns her poems by heart and presents them with a crystal sharp vocal intensity that has the power to astonish an audience.
Her collection, The State of the Prisons, was shortlisted for the Poetry Now Award
Poetry Now Award
The Poetry Now Award is an annual literary prize presented for the best single volume of poetry by an Irish poet. The €5,000 award is presented during the annual Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Poetry Now international poetry festival. The festival began in 1996 and the first Poetry Now Award was bestowed...
in 2006. In November 2007, she received a Lannan Foundation Fellowship for "distinctive literary merit and for demonstrating potential for continued outstanding work". Her poem "Through the Square Window" won first prize in the 2007 British 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...
. Her collection, Through the Square Window, won the Poetry Now Award
Poetry Now Award
The Poetry Now Award is an annual literary prize presented for the best single volume of poetry by an Irish poet. The €5,000 award is presented during the annual Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Poetry Now international poetry festival. The festival began in 1996 and the first Poetry Now Award was bestowed...
for 2010.
Works
- There Was a Fire in Vancouver (Carcanet Press, 1996)
- Between Here and There (Carcanet Press, 2001)
- The State of Prisons (Carcanet Press, 2005)
- Through a Square Window (Carcanet Press, 2009)