Third International Conference

Consciousness, Theatre, Literature and the Arts

May 16-18, 2009, Lincoln, UK

Plenary Session

John Menaghan

Abstract

John Menaghan, author of All the Money in the World (Salmon, 1999), She Alone (Salmon, 2006), and What Vanishes (forthcoming Salmon, 2009), will give a reading from his poetry and discuss his artistic process, followed by an open discussion with the audience.  The Hudson Review, calling She Alone “one of the best books of 2006,” describes it as follows: “a sort of novel in verse or fictional biography, but neither of those terms quite does it justice.  It evokes the life of a woman artist in fifty-odd lyrics, each in a different form, each handled with unobtrusive panache. Here is a book in which style and substance harmonize. It is refreshingly devoted not to the poet’s career but to another life—and an eloquent one at that,” “poetry with a human center,” “smart and affecting," and "utterly original."  Midwest Book Review calls it “a unique experience .  .  . enthusiastically recommended.”  And Kirkus Reviews calls All the Money in the World, Menaghan’s first book, “an auspicious beginning” and “quite wonderful.”

Biographical Note

A prize-winning poet and playwright, John Menaghan has published two books with Salmon Poetry (Ireland): All the Money in the World (1999) and She Alone (2006). Kirkus Reviews called the former "an auspicious beginning," and The Hudson Review named the latter "one of the best books of 2006."  What Vanishes, his third Salmon volume, is forthcoming in 2009.  Menaghan teaches literature and creative writing at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he also serves as Director of both the Irish Studies and Summer in Ireland programs and runs the annual LMU Irish Cultural Festival.