Background
Mrs. Donovan was born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, on June 20, 1962. She is a daughter of Richard (a farmer) and Deborah (a psychotherapist; maiden name, Troop) Donovan.
(Katie Donovan writes about the hungers which haunt our fl...)
Katie Donovan writes about the hungers which haunt our flesh and our fantasies, the conjunction of myth and the physical world of body and earth. Her visceral poems render new sensations, landscapes, and perceptions, taking a fresh look at family and history, with daring imagery interwoven with language by turns playful and elegiac. The need for role models, how to cope with loss, the way we interact with the natural world, the play of power between people, and how women cope with love and its aftermath are among the many topics she addresses in her poetry. ""A collection of poetry from Katie Donovan on the many types of hunger that push us through life looking for that satisfaction. Thoughtful and thought provoking."" The Midwest Book Review
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1852248815/?tag=2022091-20
(From a surreal funeral vision in New Orleans to the many ...)
From a surreal funeral vision in New Orleans to the many shades of love, these new poems ferry the reader between the underworld and the light. Coming to terms with bereavement, the loss of love, and betrayal, Katie Donovan travels from personal stories to imagined realms, from the fate of an Indian outcast to a lover's treachery, from the lamprey grip of a heroin addict to the shooting of one cousin by another in the 1798 Irish rebellion, to watching a healer in Brazil perform surgery without anesthetic. Gradually talismans of death are turned inside out as the poet's path ascends to the living world, and a sequence of journeys. These poems dance with the skeleton at the crossroads between the end and the beginning, the visceral physical world, and the phantom parade of the past.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1852245921/?tag=2022091-20
(A rich treasury of writing by and about Ireland's women. ...)
A rich treasury of writing by and about Ireland's women. This is the first volume of its kind to present a collection of writings by and about Ireland's women. From Queen Maeve of Connaught to President Mary Robinson, this book presents Irish women as their compatriots―men and women both―have described and interpreted them. Modern Irish women are outspoken about the issues that rouse their passion―love and sex, marriage and divorce, abortion and adoption. As Katie Donovan says in her introduction: "Our selection is intended to give the reader a taste of the varied spectrum, from the courtly praise of men to swinish male chauvinism; from women's declarations of outrage against church and state to their celebrations of childbirth and motherhood." This book celebrates the vast range of women's thought and activity, their spirituality, and their passions. The women who appear in this collection are both well known and unknown, real and invented. The editors have drawn freely upon translations of the mythological tales and later Irish poems, upon letters, biographies, and newspapers as well as prose and poetry, plays, recordings and songs, in order to present a complex multilayered and richly rewarding view of Ireland's women.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393313603/?tag=2022091-20
(Words give our lives shape. In Katie Donovan’s first book...)
Words give our lives shape. In Katie Donovan’s first book of poetry The Seasons of Words images are woven together to create meaning and perspective from our daily experiences. In this four part collection of poems each part has a theme related to a season. Topics range from love, loss, uncertainty, self-discovery, and natural beauty. Reading her poetry is like putting words to feelings you cannot express and you feel like someone truly understands you: “Silver linings are pinned to the ground / And dreams drift like smoke.” Full of emotion and lyrical beauty, the poems will speak to the reader. Take a journey of images and experience a new way of piecing together the puzzle of our world. So no matter what stage of life you’re in, read Seasons of Words and realize you’re not alone.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0988942429/?tag=2022091-20
Mrs. Donovan was born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, on June 20, 1962. She is a daughter of Richard (a farmer) and Deborah (a psychotherapist; maiden name, Troop) Donovan.
Katie Donovan was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in 1984. In 1986 she finished University of California, Berkeley, with Master of Arts degree.
Mrs. Donovan was a teacher of English to foreign students in Dublin, Ireland, from 1986 to 1987, and at a secondary school in Hungary, 1987-1988. Since 1988 she worked as a features writer, editor, and literary critic for Irish Times, Dublin. Between 1981 and 1983 Mrs. Donovan was a member of Samaritans. She gives readings from her works.
She moved back to Dublin where she worked for "The Irish Times" for 13 years as a journalist in the Features Dept. She qualified as an Amatsu practitioner (a form of Japanese osteopathy) in 2002 and continues to practice part-time. Katie Donovan was Writer-in-Residence for Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown 2006-8 and has taught many courses (in Media and Contemporary Irish Literature as well as Creative Writing) in IADT Dun Laoghaire (2006-13). She was a lecturer in Creative Writing, with a focus on poetry, in NUI Maynooth 2015-2017. Mrs. Donovan has just completed a three year course in Somatic Experiencing, a form of trauma therapy. Devised by Dr Peter Levine, this therapy works with a client’s neurological system to process and release past trauma, and rebuild resilience.
Mrs. Donovan has published five books of poetry, all with Bloodaxe Books, UK. Her most recent, "Off-Duty" appeared in September 2016.
Her first collection, "Watermelon Man" appeared in 1993. Her second, "Entering the Mare", was published in 1997; and her third, "Day of the Dead", in 2002. "Rootling: New and Selected Poems" appeared in 2010.
She is also working on a novel for children.
Her poems have appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies in Ireland, the UK and the US, notably the bestselling "Staying Alive: real poems for unreal times" edited by Neil Astley, and "The Wake Forest Book of Irish Women’s Poetry" edited by Peggy O’Brien. Mrs. Donovan has given readings of her work in many venues in Ireland, England, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, the US and Canada. She has read her work on RTE Radio One and on BBC. Her short fiction has appeared in "The Sunday Tribune" and "The Cork Literary Review".
(Katie Donovan writes about the hungers which haunt our fl...)
(From a surreal funeral vision in New Orleans to the many ...)
(A rich treasury of writing by and about Ireland's women. ...)
(Words give our lives shape. In Katie Donovan’s first book...)
Quotations:
"I write to express my feelings about all sorts of things that strike me about daily living, things that I need to explore and understand better. I am influenced by the truth of the life of the body, the desire to talk frankly about womanhood, the temptation to explore things that most people prefer not to think about. Some of my poems are very much inspired by visual art, like the sculptures of Rodin or the paintings of Paolo Uccello or Rufino Tamayo. I use colors and imagery, rather like creating a painting with words. I am also inspired by folklore — its stories and images. I write when I can find the time and the right frame of mind, often late at night."
"An important aspect of my writing is having the opportunity to give readings. I do this on a regular basis in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States, and Canada. I like this immediate, aural, performance side of my work. It complements the intense, silent, introverted process of creating the poems. When I read to an audience, I can feel the life and the rhythm of the work, and I can witness the impact it has on people in a very direct way."
Quotes from others about the person
Bernard O’Donoghue: "Donovan has an exceptional descriptive gift. A highly idiosyncratic, individualistic writer who probes experience for hidden meanings, her seeming introversion is exposed through a poetry of great solidity and tactility."
Eilean Ni Chuilleanain: "Here is a poet who enjoys writing about what is new and strange, surprising or disconcerting. When she is introspective, what she homes in on is not the reflective mind’s attempt at a just balance but the wildness of the instant of emotion."
travel, photography, gardening, yoga, theater, walking, alternative health, cats
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