GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS FESTIVAL
Desmond Egan Poet
Artistic Director The GM Hopkins International Festival
Press Release: Tuesday July 27 2010
Unique Library Exhibition
120 Publications Worldwide by Desmond Egan on Display
A unique Exhibition organised by Kildare County Librarian, Breda Gleeson and curated by librarian, Suzanne Brosnan, opens in Newbridge Community Library at 6 pm Tuesday July 27 th . There was standing room only on Tuesday evening as a local and international dignataries came to celebrate the life-time work of Desmond Egan.
Mayor Brendan Weld opened the evening with a few well chosen words. After him, Greek poet, Yiorgos Chouliaras spoke of his admiration for Egan's work which he reckoned as ‘the finest since Patrick Kavanagh'. The distinguished scholar, Brian Arkins of NUI Galway described Egan as a major poet and said his work will endure. The Ambassador of the Czech Republic then spoke of his admiration of Egan's work and of the high standing of his poetry in the Czech Republic due to a number of translations of his work which have appeared there. Finally Ambassador Alvensleben spoke of the range of Egan publications which have appeared in Germany and of the great link between the two countries provided by this work. The large crowd then visited the beautifully displayed Exhibition Room where, astonishingly some 120 books were on display.
The Collection is the first fully comprehensive assembly of Egan's Work. As well as 23 individual poetry collections, it includes 2 books of prose essays, a documentary DVD made in USA, a multimedia presentation made in Czech Republic and Egan's two translations of Classical Greek Plays. On top of this, there are samples of the 24 collections of his work which have been published in book form in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Belgium, Greece, Japan, China.…
There are also three Critical Works devoted to Egan's writing: two from USA and one from Russia.
The extensive exhibition also features valuable Limited Editions: two from Luxembourg; two from USA; and two from Ireland. There is also a Complete Collection of ERA, an Arts Review edited by Egan in the 70s; plus some ten Poster Poems – including ‘Freedom', a new American Poster to be launched by Ambassador Kafka on the night.
Peace Poem -- translated into 28 languages for Millennium Year
Hugh Kenner's assessment of Egan's Poetry
Desmond Egan, a Bibliography
Egan's ELEGIES reviewed
Desmond Egan on Hopkins's Poetry
Desmond Egan analysis of As Kingfishers catch Fire
Exhibition of Desmond Egan Publications