4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Wexford author to launch new poetry book focused on his hometown
The book provides nuanced and many-sided explorations of Irish and diasporic life – with particular focus on Eamonn Wall's hometown of Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, and on St. Louis, Missouri, where he had lived for the past two decades.
According to his publisher, Salmon Poetry, 'the book is also a homage to the lives of those who have been written out of history, and a personal response to a town that has changed but endured.'
A focal point of the collection is Annie Murphy-Flood, the author's grandmother, who arrived in Enniscorthy as a newly married young woman in the early 20th century to open a business and start a family.
Eamonn is a prolific writer who has previously published Writing the Irish West: Ecologies and Traditions. He has also published a number of essays in The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune and many more.
Eamonn has lived in St Louis since 2000 and is the Smufit-Stone Corporation Professor of Irish Studies, as well as a Professor of English Studies, at the University of Missouri-St Louis (UMSL).
At UMSL, he curates the monthly Irish lectures, readings, and concerts series for UMSL Global, is currently the Director of their annual summer study abroad programme at the University of Galway, as well as teaching various classes on Irish writing.
He has received a number of awards commending his contribution to Irish writing; the Durkan Prize from the American Conference for Irish Studies, the Irish Echo Award for distinguished service to Irish Arts and Culture in North America, as well as being the first Irish-born academic to be elected as President of the American Conference for Irish Studies.
Recognised for bridging the gap between American and Irish Culture, he was asked to lead the St Patrick's Parade in St Louis last year, where he was joined by Fianna Fáíl Senator Shane Curley.
In double joy for the family, his sister Sinead led the Enniscorthy procession with great excitement.
