The page of Sweeney, Matthew, English biography
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Biography
Born in Donegal in 1952, based in Cork currently, having previously been resident in Berlin, Timişoara and, for a long time, London. Sweeney stands apart from the usual line of discussion by combining an inherited Irish interest in narrative with a lasting preoccupation with German literature, stretching from the Romantics to the twentieth century and including Kleist, Buchner, Trakl, Kafka, Huchel, Grass and Boll. Furthermore, his work seems barely touched by the mainstream of English writing - witness firstly his lack of interest in history or class and secondly his highly individual adaptation of realism. Bilingual selections of the poems appeared in Germany and Holland in 2008. There were earlier translations in Mexico, Romania, Latvia and Slovakia. In 1994/95 he was Writer in Residence at the South Bank, London. He has been a recipient of the DAAD Fellowship in Berlin. A member of Aosdána (Irish Writers Online is a no-frills bio-bibliographical database), he lived in Europe for many years and now lives in Cork.
His recent publications:
- The Night Post: A New Selection, Salt (2010)
- Pendulum: The Poetry of Dreams (contributor),(2008)
- Black Moon, Cape (2007)
- Stories, Cape(2006)
- Selected Poems of Walter de la Mare, Poet to Poet series, Faber and Faber(2006)
- Irish Poems, editor, Macmillan Children's Books(2005)
Awards:
- T. S. Eliot Prize, Black Moon, shortlist(2007)
- Arts Council of Ireland Writers’ Bursary(2001)
- Arts Council Writers' Award(1999)
- Henfield Writing Fellowship (1986)
- Cholmondeley Award(1987)
- New Statesman Prudence Farmer Award(1984)
Sources:
http://aosdana.artscouncil.ie/Members/Literature/Sweeney.aspx
http://www.irishwriters-online.com/sweeney-matthew/
http://literature.britishcouncil.org/matthew-sweeney
http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poet/item/11102
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poet/matthew-sweeney
(Editor of this page: Répás Norbert)
