Murphy, Richard

(1927- )

   Irish poet, born in County Mayo on the west of Ireland, he spent his early childhood years in Sri Lanka. His father was the last British mayor of Colombo and later replaced the Duke of Windsor as governor of the Bahamas. His education was in Ireland and England, and he was a chorister in Canterbury Cathedral. At Oxford University he studied English under C.S. Lewis, who sparked his desire to be a poet. He began reviewing poetry for the Spec282 tator in 1950. Much of his poetry is inspired by the west of Ireland. Since 1971 he has taught creative writing and modern poetry as a visiting poet at Princeton and eight other American universities. He has received six major literary awards. He lives in Dublin. Some of his publications: The Battle of Aughrim, 1968. High Island, 1974. New and Selected Poems, 1975. New Selected Poems, 1989. The Mirror Wall, 1989. Collected Poems, 2000. Some of his poems: "Sailing to an Island," "Seals at High Island," "The Archaeology of Love," "The Philosopher and the Birds," "The Price of Stone," "Woman of the House."

   Sources: Biography of Richard Murphy (http://www.cca.ukzn.ac.za/images/pa/PA2004/poets/murphy.htm). Contemporary Irish Poetry: An Anthology. Anthony Bradley, ed. University of California Press. New and rev. ed., 1988. English Love Poems. John Betjeman and Geoffrey Taylor, eds. Faber and Faber, 1957. Irish Poetry after Yeats: Seven Poets. Maurice Harmon, ed. Little, Brown, 1979. Modern Irish Poetry. Patrick Crotty, ed. The Blackstaff Press, 1995. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Works of Richard Murphy (http://www.irishwriters-online.com/richardmurphy.html).