Nessa O'Mahony

Last updated

Nessa O’Mahony
Nessa O'Mahony.jpg
O'Mahony in 2012
Born Dublin
OccupationNovelist, Poet
NationalityIrish

Nessa O'Mahony is an Irish poet and a freelance teacher and writer.

Contents

Life and work

Born in Dublin, she was educated in St Louis High School, Rathmines before going on to University College Dublin to study English. She was a recipient of the Mary Colum Award for being the highest-placed female student in English Literature for the BA in 1984. O'Mahony worked as a journalist in RTÉ Aertel and Lafferty Publications, before switching to public relations with roles in the Irish Insurance Federation and Arts Council (Ireland), where she was Head of Public Affairs (1999-2002).

She began writing poetry in 1994. She published her first collection of poems, Bar Talk, in 1999, and was a regular presenter on the radio show Writers Inc. Anna Livia FM from 1997 to 1999. She returned to full-time education in 2002, completing a master's in creative writing at the University of East Anglia (2003) and a PhD in creative and critical writing at the University of Wales Bangor in 2006. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Since then she has won awards for her poetry, worked as assistant editor of the UK literary journal Orbis, and teaches workshops on poetry and writing through a number of venues including the Open University. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Her works have been translated into several languages and published across the world. She lives in Rathfarnham. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Awards and bursaries

Criticism

Novelist Joseph O'Connor (In Sight of Home) :

‘a moving, powerful and richly pleasurable read, audaciously imagined and achieved’

Poet Tess Gallagher (Her Father’s Daughter) :

‘words are her witching sticks and she employs them with beautiful, engaging intent, the better to make present what has preceded and what approaches.’

Bibliography

Co-editions

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Bio on Salmon poetry publishing site".
  2. 1 2 3 "Creative writing workshops".
  3. 1 2 3 Rumens, Carol (June 2009). "The guardian on Nessa O'Mahony". The Guardian.
  4. 1 2 3 "Munster Lit. Bio".
  5. 1 2 3 "Poetry Ireland".
  6. 1 2 3 "Dublin Book Festival".
  7. 1 2 3 "Irish Writers' Online".
  8. "DCU Faculty list".
  9. "Readings by poets Nigel McLoughlin, Nessa O'Mahony and Joseph Woods at the Book Fair | International Literature Festival Dublin". ilfdublin.com. 19 June 2005.
  10. 1 2 3 "salmonpoetry.com | Her Father's Daughter by Nessa O'Mahony". Salmon Poetry.
  11. "A Celebration of Women's Poetry for International Women's Day 2015". Poethead by C. Murray. 7 March 2015.
  12. "Our Writers". Armagh Project 2014. 16 June 2014.
  13. webmaster, Arts Council (4 March 2020). "Who we funded". www.artscouncil.ie.
  14. "UCD John Hume Institute for Global Irish Studies - Artist in Residence Programme". www.ucd.ie.