Irish Poetry 1935-2005

ECTS allocation:                  10
Teaching Faculty:                 Prof Gerald Dawe
Contact:                                1 x 2 hours/week in Hilary term

The course looks at various poetic and critical directions in Irish poetry after W B Yeats. Beginning with Beckett's generation, the course discusses the work of Louis Mac Neice, Patrick Kavanagh, Thomas Kinsella, Richard Murphy, Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Eavan Boland, Paul Muldoon and the new generation of Irish poets. Historical and cultural contexts, comparative readings, and the influence of politics will form part of this wide-ranging seminar. Students might like to familiarise themselves with some background reading including Patricia Coughlan & Alex Davis (eds.), Modernism and Ireland: The Poetry of the 1930s (Cork University Press, 1995), Edna Longley, Poetry in the Wars (Bloodaxe, 1986), John Goodby, Irish poetry since 1950 (Manchester University Press, 2000) and Justin Quinn, Cambridge Introduction to Modern Irish Poetry (Cambridge University Press (2008).

1. Introduction: 'Irish Poetry 1935-2005'
2. The Beckett Generation
3. Louis Mac Neice, Collected Poems (Faber, 2007)
4. Patrick Kavanagh, Selected Poems (Penguin, 2000)
5. Thomas Kinsella, Collected Poems (Carcanet, 2001)
6. Richard Murphy, Collected Poems (Gallery, 2000)
7. Reading Week
8. Seamus Heaney, Opened Ground: Poems 1966-1996 (Faber, 1998)
9. Derek Mahon, Collected Poems (Gallery, 2000)
10. Eavan Boland, New Collected Poems (Carcanet, 2005)
11. Paul Muldoon and The New Irish Poets (Bloodaxe, 2004)
12. Review and essay discussion