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Thomas Kinsella

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the Irish poet. For the U.S. Representative, seeThomas Kinsella (politician).

Thomas Kinsella
Kinsella in 2009
Kinsella in 2009
Born(1928-05-04)4 May 1928
Inchicore,Dublin,Ireland
Died22 December 2021(2021-12-22)(aged 93)
Dublin,Ireland
Occupationpoet, lecturer,translator,editor
LanguageEnglish,Irish
EducationModel School, Inchicore
O'Connell School
University College Dublin
SpouseEleanor Walsh (m. 1955–2017, her death)[1]

Thomas Kinsella(4 May 1928 – 22 December 2021) was an Irish poet, translator, editor, and publisher. Born outsideDublin,Kinsella attendedUniversity College Dublinbefore entering the civil service. He began publishing poetry in the early 1950s and, around the same time, translated early Irish poetry into English. In the 1960s, he moved to the United States to teach English at universities includingTemple University.Kinsella continued to publish steadily until the 2010s.

Early life and work

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Thomas Kinsella was born on 4 May 1928 inInchicoreto working-class but "cultured" parents[2][3]John Paul Kinsella and Agnes, née Casserly.[4][5]His father and grandfather both worked inGuinness's brewery,[6]his father, a union organiser, in thecooperage,later working as "a helper, a labourer, on a Guinness delivery lorry"; his grandfather ran a barge from the brewery to sea-going vessels in Dublin harbour.[7]Kinsella spent most of his childhood in theKilmainham/ Inchicore area of Dublin, and was educated at the Model School, Inchicore,[8]where classes were taught in theIrish language,and at theO'Connell Schoolsin North Richmond Street, Dublin. He enteredUniversity College Dublinin 1946, initially to study science. After a few terms in college, he took a post in theIrish civil servicein the department of finance and continued his university studies at night, having switched to humanities and arts.[9]

Many of Kinsella's early poems were published in the University College Dublin magazineNational Studentfrom 1951 to 1953.[10]His first pamphlet,The Starlit Eye(1952),[11]was published by Liam Miller'sDolmen Press,[12]as wasPoems(1956), his first book-length publication. These were followed byAnother September(1958–1962),[5]Moralities(1960),[13]Downstream(1962),[13]Wormwood(1966), and the long poemNightwalker(1967).[14]

Translations and editing

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At Miller's suggestion, Kinsella turned his attention to the translation of early Irish texts. He produced versions ofLonges Mac UsnigandThe Breastplate of St Patrickin 1954[15]and ofThirty-Three Triadsin 1955. His most significant work in this area was collected in two volumes. The first of these wasThe Táin(Dolmen, 1969; Oxford University Press, 1970),[13]a version of theTáin Bó Cúailngeillustrated byLouis le Brocquy.[16]

WithSeán Ó Tuama,Kinsella co-editedAn Duanaire: 1600–1900, Poems of the Dispossessed(1981), an anthology of Irish poems that critic Siobhán Holland describes as a "politicized deployment of the anthology genre".[17]An Duanairewon a "special award" of theRooney Prize for Irish Literaturein 1982.[18]He also editedAustin Clarke'sSelected Poems[19]andCollected Poems(both 1974) for Dolmen andThe New Oxford Book of Irish Verse(1986).[20]

According to critic Dillon Johnston, Kinsella's translations ofTáinandAn Duanairehave helped to "revitalize" the Irish literary canon.[21]

Later poetry

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In 1965, Kinsella left the civil service to teach atSouthern Illinois University,and in 1970 he became a professor of English atTemple University.[22]In 1973, he started Temple's Irish studies programme.[23]

In 1972, he startedPeppercanister Pressto publish his own work. The first Peppercanister production wasButcher's Dozen,a satirical response to theWidgery Tribunalinto the events ofBloody Sunday.[24]This poem drew on theaislingtradition.[25]

Beginning around 1968 withNightwalker and Other Poems,Kinsella's work became more influenced by Americanmodernist poetry,[26]particularly the poetry ofEzra Pound,William Carlos Williams,[20]andRobert Lowell.In addition, his poetry started to focus more on the individual psyche as seen through the work ofCarl Jung.[27]These tendencies appeared in the poems ofNotes from the Land of the Dead(1973) andOne(1974).[28]

According to critic Thomas H. Jackson, books includingHer Vertical Smile(1985),Out of Ireland(1987), andSt Catherine's Clock(1987) blended personal and world-historical perspectives: "address a self, and you find the world; address an aspect of the world, and you find a self".[29]One Fond Embrace(1988) andPoems from Centre City(1990) allude to historical antecedents includingBrian Merrimanand medieval curse poetry to dissect contemporary events such as architectural development in Dublin.[30]

Awards and honours

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Kinsella received the honoraryFreedom of the City of Dublinon 24 May 2007.[31]In December 2018, he received an honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin.[32]

Personal life and death

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Kinsella's brother was the composerJohn Kinsella(1932–2021).[33]Thomas died in Dublin on 22 December 2021, at the age of 93. His wife Eleanor predeceased him in 2017.[34][35]

Works

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Poetry collections

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  • Poems(1956)[5]
  • Another September(Dolmen, 1958)[11]
  • Poems & Translations(New York: Atheneum, 1961)[11]
  • Downstream(1962)[13]
  • Tear(Cambridge, Massachusetts: Pym-Randall Press, 1969)[11]
  • Nightwalker and Other Poems(1968)[13]
  • The Good Fight(Peppercanister, 1973)[13]
  • Notes from the Land of the Dead and Other Poems(1973)[13]
  • Fifteen Dead(1979)[36]
  • One and Other Poems(1979)[36]
  • Peppercanister Poems 1972–1978(Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Wake Forest University Press, 1980)[37]
  • One Fond Embrace(Deerfield, Massachusetts: Deerfield Press, 1981)[37]
  • St Catherine's Clock(Dolmen, 1987)[37]
  • Blood and Family(Oxford University Press, 1988)[37]
  • Madonna and Other Poems(Peppercanister, 1991)[37]
  • Open Court(Peppercanister, 1991)[37]
  • From Centre City(1994)[36]
  • The Pen Shop(Peppercanister, 1996)[37]
  • The Familiar(Peppercanister, 1999)[37]
  • Godhead(Peppercanister, 1999)[37]
  • Citizen of the World(Peppercanister, 2000)[37]
  • Littlebody(Peppercanister, 2000)[37]
  • Collected Poems 1956–2001(Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2001; Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Wake Forest University Press, 2006)[37]
  • Marginal Economy(Dublin: Dedalus Press; Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2006)[37]
  • Belief and Unbelief(Dublin: Dedalus Press; Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2007)[37]
  • Man of War(Dublin: Dedalus Press; Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2007)[37]
  • Selected Poems(Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2007)[37]
  • Fat Master(2011)[38]
  • Love Joy Peace(2011)[38]
  • Kinsella, Thomas (2013).Late Poems.ISBN978-1-84777-243-5.OCLC856200411.

Prose collections

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Poetry and prose

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  • A Dublin Documentary(O'Brien Press, 2007)[37]

Translation

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  • The Táin,translated from the Irish epicTáin Bó Cúailnge,with illustrations byLouis le Brocquy.Dolmen, 1969; Oxford University Press, 1970.
  • An Duanaire - Poems of the Dispossessed, an anthology of Gaelic poems;edited by Seán Ó Tuama. Portlaoise: Dolmen Press, 1981ISBN978-0-85105-363-9.

Audio

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  • Thomas Kinsella Poems 1956–2006(Claddagh Records, 2007)[37]

Citations

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  1. ^"Kinsella, Thomas | Encyclopedia.com".www.encyclopedia.com.
  2. ^"Thomas Kinsella, one of Ireland's finest poets, has died, aged 93".The Irish Times.Retrieved21 February2024.
  3. ^"Obituary: Thomas Kinsella, the gifted poet who lived and breathed Dublin".Independent.ie.26 December 2021.Retrieved21 February2024.
  4. ^Cowell, Alan (23 December 2021)."Thomas Kinsella, Evocative, and Debated, Irish Poet, Dies at 93".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved21 February2024.
  5. ^abcAbbate Badin 1996,p. xiii.
  6. ^Fitzsimons 2008,p. 156.
  7. ^"Thomas Kinsella: 'Reading a poem requires the kind of care needed to cross the street'".The Irish Times.Retrieved21 February2024.
  8. ^Abbate Badin 1996,p. 3.
  9. ^Byrne, Andrea (22 March 2009)."Kinsella's wife reveals her hurt at the poet's words of love".Irish Independent.Archivedfrom the original on 5 November 2021.Retrieved23 December2021.
  10. ^Abbate Badin 1996,p. 4.
  11. ^abcdHarmon 1974,p. 123.
  12. ^McAuliffe 2012,p. 227.
  13. ^abcdefgAbbate Badin 1996,p. xiv.
  14. ^"Thomas Kinsella".Poetry Foundation.8 September 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 30 November 2020.Retrieved9 September2020.
  15. ^Abbate Badin 1996,p. 5.
  16. ^O'Donoghue, Bernard(2013). "Kinsella, Thomas". In Noel-Tod, Jeremy (ed.).The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry(2d ed.).Oxford University Press.pp.321–322.ISBN978-0-19-964025-6.OCLC825557412.
  17. ^Hutton 2011,p. 177.
  18. ^"Book News".The Irish Times.20 June 1987. p. A5.ProQuest530756896.
  19. ^Rosenthal, M. L. (19 September 1976)."Selected Poems".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved23 December2021.
  20. ^abJeffares, A. Norman;Bolger, Muriel (2014).A Short History of Ireland's Writers.Dublin:O'Brien Press.pp.181–183.ISBN978-1-84717-645-5.OCLC881399463.
  21. ^Johnston 1985,p. 97.
  22. ^Stewart, William (2007).British and Irish Poets: A Biographical Dictionary, 449–2006.McFarland & Company.p.216.ISBN978-0-7864-5109-8.OCLC614571616.
  23. ^Fryatt, Kit (2008). Byrne, James Patrick; King, Jason Francis; Coleman, Philip (eds.).Ireland and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History: a Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia.Vol. 2.ABC-Clio.pp. 504–505.ISBN978-1-85109-614-5.
  24. ^Matthews 1997,p. 74.
  25. ^Campbell 2003,p. 13.
  26. ^Davis 2001,p. 38.
  27. ^Jackson 1995,pp. 87–89.
  28. ^Campbell 2003,p. 85.
  29. ^Jackson 1995,p. 142.
  30. ^John 1996,pp. 247–248.
  31. ^Hennessy, Michelle (22 December 2021)."'One of our greatest poets': Tributes paid after death of Thomas Kinsella ".TheJournal.ie.Archivedfrom the original on 22 December 2021.Retrieved23 December2021.
  32. ^"Honorary Degrees 2018-19".Trinity College Dublin.Archivedfrom the original on 22 March 2020.Retrieved6 January2020.
  33. ^"Self-taught symphonist".The Irish Times.9 January 1998.Archivedfrom the original on 23 December 2021.Retrieved23 December2021.
  34. ^Cowell, Alan (23 December 2021)."Thomas Kinsella, Evocative Irish Poet, Is Dead at 93".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on 23 December 2021.Retrieved23 December2021.
  35. ^Smyth, Gerard (22 December 2021)."Thomas Kinsella, one of Ireland's finest poets, has died, aged 93".The Irish Times.Archivedfrom the original on 22 December 2021.Retrieved22 December2021.
  36. ^abcdAbbate Badin 1996,p. xv.
  37. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrsTubridy, Derval (August 2008). "Thomas Kinsella: a selected bibliography, 2008".Irish Studies Review.16(3): 335–343.doi:10.1080/09670880802217328.ISSN0967-0882.S2CID143813804.
  38. ^abFitzsimons 2017,p. 237n6.

Sources

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