John F. Deane/An Tobar.

John F. Deane/AnTobar/Ardbraccan.

Jim Owens and John F. Deane

John F. Deane was the guest reader on Tuesday night for an evening that was both entertaining and informative. A blending or coming together of both poetry and faith or where one becomes a vehicle of the other and all with some humorous aside; whether that be a greeting or an encounter along the road and I don't know the Irish word for tar nor anything of hide and seek among leaves or song of songs, or much of the many other insights but he also touched on old schoolbook favourites, whether it was the writings of Wordsworth or W. H. Auden reflecting on Yeats. And everything you do in the world. He was the founder of Poetry Ireland and is the recipient of the O' Shaughnessy Award for Irish Poetry and the Marten Toonder Award for Literature and is a member of Aosdána. He was the founder and editor of The Dedalus Press and is the recipient of many international awards. The list goes on. He also reflected on the writings of his friends Thomas Kinsella and Seamus Heaney.