{"id":6,"date":"2017-09-04T14:15:41","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T13:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnennispoet.com\/bio-books\/"},"modified":"2017-11-22T22:08:18","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T22:08:18","slug":"bio","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/johnennispoet.com\/bio\/","title":{"rendered":"Bio"},"content":{"rendered":"
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John Ennis – Portrait by Rodney Mercer<\/p>\n

Poetry-Related Interviews and Studies<\/h4>\n

… Brend\u00e1n O Caoimh\u00e1in, RTE, Documentary 1982.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mack Furlong, CBC, St. John\u2019s, on Postponing Asbyrgi<\/i> 2013<\/span><\/p>\n

Claire O\u2019Brien, Encore, Midlands 103, Tribute on Seventieth Birthday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cori Hurley, Western Star, Corner Brook, Newfoundland, on books launched.<\/span><\/p>\n

Face-to-Face,\u00a0 <\/span>Midlands Arts and Culture Review<\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

Ennis Interview with Irish <\/i>Philosopher, Richard Kearney, Poetry Ireland Review<\/i> 24.<\/span><\/p>\n

En Sus Proprias Palabras \/ In Their Own Words, Entrevistas a escritores irlandeses contemporaneos<\/i>, Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, Argentina, 2011…<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”2\/3″ id=”” class=”grey_bg” style=””]

Biographical Note<\/h1>\n

John Ennis<\/b> is the author of twenty books of poetry.\u00a0 <\/span>He retired (31 August 2009) as Head of\u00a0 <\/span>the School of Humanities at Waterford Institute of Technology,<\/b> where he was also Chair of the Centre for Newfoundland and Labrador Studies<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

He holds a first class honours BA <\/b>(English and Spanish<\/b>) from UCC <\/b>(1966). He studied for a subsidiary degree in Philosophy<\/b> at the same time. He is a postgraduate of UCD\u2019s MA in English and American Studies <\/b>(1969), <\/b>for which he wrote his thesis on Wilfred Owen.<\/b>\u00a0 <\/span>He took a H. Dip.in Education <\/b>(NUIM<\/b>, 1970).\u00a0 <\/span>He holds a PhD<\/b> from The National<\/b> Council for Educational Awards<\/b> specialising in Myth and Archetype, What Verities<\/i><\/b> <\/i>Remain<\/i><\/b>(1997), his extern being Dr. Robert Welch (dec.) University of Ulster at Coleraine. In 2008, Memorial University of Newfoundland<\/b> at Sir<\/b> Wilfred Grenfell College<\/b> awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in Laws <\/b>\u201c. . . [for] fostering links between Ireland and Newfoundland, and for his poetry\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ennis worked in Education for some forty years building up the Humanities<\/b> at the Waterford Institute of<\/b> Technology<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Among his many works is Ois\u00edn\u2019s Journey Home<\/i><\/b>(2006): a long poem in praise of the workers who built and served Newfoundland\u2019s now defunct railway.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A reviewer, essayist and critic, and facilitator in creative writing, John Ennis has acted as editor for Poetry Ireland<\/i><\/b> <\/i>Review<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0 <\/span>He served on the Executive of Poetry Ireland<\/b> for eleven of its formative years.\u00a0 <\/span>Awards have included The Patrick Kavanagh Award<\/b> in 1975, numerous firsts in the Listowel Open, <\/b>Ireland\u2019s premier literary festival, a Jury\u2019s Achievement Award<\/b> and The Irish American Cultural Institute Award, Butler Award<\/b> in 1996.\u00a0 <\/span>Since 2003, he has co-edited three anthologies of Canadian-Irish Poetry: The Backyards of<\/i><\/b> <\/i>Heaven<\/i> <\/b>(2003), However Blow the Winds<\/i><\/b> (2004, and The Echoing Years<\/i><\/b> (2007); he himself edited a further All-Canadian Anthology <\/i>How<\/i> the Light Gets in<\/i><\/b> \u2026 (2009). In 2010, his own work was substantially represented in the Harvard<\/i> Anthology of<\/i> Modern Irish Poetry, <\/i><\/b>edited by Wes <\/i><\/b>Davis.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 <\/span>In 2011, he was commissioned as librettist for the anthem of Come the Sails<\/i><\/b>, a choral work to honour The Tall Ships arriving in Waterford.\u00a0 <\/span>He remains creatively active, his work appearing in recent years in Poetry Ireland Review,<\/i><\/b> The<\/i><\/b> Stinging Fly<\/i><\/b>, Riddle Fence, Outburst, <\/i><\/b> <\/i>New Hibernia Review, The Burning Bush, The Clifden Anthology, Boyne Berries<\/i> <\/b>and Catechism \u00a0 <\/span>Poems for Pussy Riot<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/span><\/b>His Postponing \u00c1sbyrgi<\/i><\/b> (poems in response to Iceland\u2019s S\u00ecgur R\u00f3s) was published by Three Spires Press<\/b> in March 2013 and launched in Newfoundland at The March Hare Festival<\/i><\/b>. <\/i> He recently published on-line Nine Lives \u00a0 <\/span>We Hope<\/i><\/b> (poems for Pussy Riot, 2014). He has since published further collections: A Pullet<\/i><\/b> for Jack<\/i><\/b> (2014), Going Home to Geatland<\/i><\/b> (2014), Gaza<\/i><\/b> Ground Zero<\/i><\/b> (2015), Midlandia<\/i><\/b> <\/i>(2015), Eurydice 29<\/i><\/b> (2016) and Going Back for all I\u2019d on<\/i><\/b> . . .(2017)<\/span><\/p>\n

While retired from Education, Ennis is an activist and has been green-starred for his contribution to the work of Amnesty International<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

He divides his time fortnightly between his adopted Waterford and his native Westmeath.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Stills from the DVD ‘James’. Produced and Directed by Sarah Lennon Galavan.<\/p>\n