Macdara Woods

Woods was born in Dublin, where he attended Gonzaga College and then University College Dublin. He married the poet Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin. They had one son, Niall, a musician. He lived in Dublin and Umbria. Woods was a founder-editor of the Irish literary magazine Cyphers. He died on 15 June 2018 in St. James's Hospital, aged 76.

• Poetry collections • Decimal D. Sec Drinks in a Bar in Marrakesh (1970), New Writers’ Press • Early Morning Matins (1973), Gallery Press • The King of the Dead & Other Libyan Tales (1978), Martin, Brian & O’Keeffe • Stopping the Lights in Ranelagh (1987, reprinted 1988), Dedalus Press • Miz Moon (1988), Dedalus Press • The Hanged Man Was Not Surrendering (1990), Dedalus Press • Notes From the Countries of Blood-Red Flowers (1994), Dedalus Press • Selected Poems (1996), Dedalus Press • Knowledge in the Blood, New and Selected Poems (2000, 2007), Dedalus Press • The Nightingale Water (2001), Dedalus Press • Artichoke Wine (2006), Dedalus Press • The Cotard Dimension (2011), Dedalus Press • Collected Poems (2012), Dedalus Press (in association with the Arts Council of Ireland) • From Sandymount To The Hill Of Howth (2014) Cyphers, Dublin. • Music From The Big Tent (2016) Dedalus Press In Italian: • Biglietto di Sola Andata (1998) Moby Dick Editrice, Faenza • Above Pesaro/Con Pesaro ai Miei Piedi (1999) Volumnia Editrice, Perugia • Edited books • The Kilkenny Anthology (1991), Kilkenny Co. Council. • (with Jim Vaughan), Present Tense: Words and Pictures (2006), Mayo Co. Council Woods's work has been translated into many languages. He has collaborated with musicians, notably Brendan Graham (Winter Fire & Snow, performed by Anúna and others), Benjamin Dwyer (In the Ranelagh Gardens), Militia (Above Pesaro/Con Pesaro ai Miei Piedi) and Richard Hartshorne (The Cello Suites).

He was elected a member of Aosdána (an organisation established by the Irish Government to honour those who have made an outstanding contribution to the Arts in Ireland) in 1986.