John Montague

Poet

Birthday February 28, 1929

Birth Sign Pisces

Birthplace New York

DEATH DATE Dec 10, 2016 (87)

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About

American-born Irish modernist poet whose best-known works include A Slow Dance and The Dead Kingdom. Also a poetry professor, he taught at Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and Queen's University Belfast.

Before Fame

He spent his early childhood years in Brooklyn, New York, but moved to his family's native Ireland during The Great Depression era.

Trivia

He was the first recipient of the Ireland Chair of Poetry honor (the Irish equivalent of the Poet Laureate title).

Family Life

He was married twice -- to fellow Fulbright scholar Madeleine Montague, and to Evelyn Robson -- and also had a romantic relationship with writer Elizabeth Wassell.

Associated With

While living in Paris in the early 1960s, he met and befriended playwright Samuel Beckett.