He lived in Prague for several years as a teacher and freelance journalist before moving to Ireland in 2000, where he was a columnist for the Irish Examiner and theatre reviewer for the Irish Times. He lives and writes in Dublin.

His poems have appeared in Orbis, The Eildon tree, Dreamcatcher, Aerings, Earth Love, Envoi and The London Magazine. He was the winner of the Start Chapbook Prize in 2004 for his cycle of poems Looking towards Inis Oirr.

John McKeown is a preise and imaginative poet, refreshingly free of pretension or ego. A corrosive religiosity, frequently awash with sea images, is brilliantly distilled in 'Cormorant'. His poems, direct, unsparingly candid and sparingly lyrical, pull no punches but soothe the bruises. From the bitterness of 'Passing in the Office Corridor' to the sweetness of 'That Kiss', from the line 'I grow dark with life' ('Brandy and Soda') to 'the sky is all gently rustling light' ('Roadside Tress'); McKeown swings effortlessly between the poetic polarities of disillusionment and enchantment. This selection deserves regular revisiting
Alan Morrison

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