Medbh McGuckian

Patrick Early (British Council)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.4: Irish Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Anne Markey (Dublin City University), Ian Campbell Ross (Trinity College Dublin), Eoghan Smith (Carlow College), Sinéad Sturgeon (Queen's University Belfast)

Dates

Born 12 Aug 1950
Activity 1980-ongoing

Places

Born in Ireland, Republic of (Eire)
Active in Ireland, Republic of (Eire)

Activities

Primary

Poet

Resources

McGuckian's Works

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With a dozen or so collections of poetry published to widespread critical acclaim, the Northern Irish poet Medbh McGuckian must now be considered among the leading poets of her generation. However, McGuckian’s literary debut was marked by controversy. Her poem “The Flitting,” submitted in 1979 under the pseudonym, Jean Fisher, was awarded the National Poetry Prize, ahead of a well known poet. When it became known that the winner was an Irish housewife, the organisers “rearranged the prize money”. The TLS took up the case, wanting to know whether she received less “ because she was Irish, or Catholic, or a woman, or unknown. ” (1) The challenge facing McGuckian from the outset was to find her place alongside a distinguished generation of Northern Irish poets, all of them men…

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2340 words

Citation: Early, Patrick. "Medbh McGuckian". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 September 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5125, accessed 23 November 2024.]