Derek Mahon

Derek Mahon

About Derek Mahon

Derek Mahon (born November 23, 1941, and died October 1, 2020) was an Irish poet who wrote in English. Mahon was born in Belfast to a Protestant family and studied and then taught at Trinity College Dublin. He worked at several American universities and lived briefly in France before settling permanently in County Cork. He is a member of the Irish Art Academy Aosdána. Derek Mahon's poetry is similar to the works of poets like Louis MacNeice and W.H. Auden. It is characterized by a clear-eyed view of a corrupt and decadent outside world, but also by a more serene style from the 2000s onwards. The sense of sight and light occupy an important place in his work; Several of his poems are themed around paintings by artists such as Pieter de Hooch and Vincent van Gogh.

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