Dennis O’Driscoll

Dennis O’Driscoll was born in Thurles, County Tipperary, in 1954. He studied law at the National University of Ireland, Dublin. He has worked in the Irish Civil Service since the age of sixteen. Among his collections of poetry are Kist (1982), Hidden Extras (1987), Long Short Story (1993) and Exemplary Damages (2002); New and Selected Poems was published in 2004 and received a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation. Other awards include a Lannan Literary Award (1999), the American Academy of Arts and Letters E.M. Forster Award (2005) and the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award for Poetry (2006). His selected criticism, Troubled Thoughts, Majestic Dreams, was published in 2001. He has also compiled and edited The Bloodaxe Book of Poetry Quotations (2006). He is a member of Aosdána.