Ciaran Carson facts for kids

Ciaran Gerard Carson (born October 9, 1948 – died October 6, 2019) was a famous poet and novelist from Northern Ireland. He was known for his unique writing style and his deep connection to his hometown, Belfast. Carson wrote many award-winning books of poetry and prose. He also translated important works into English. He was a talented musician who loved traditional Irish music.

About Ciaran Carson

Ciaran Carson was born in Belfast. His family spoke Irish. His father, William, was a postman. His mother, Mary, worked in linen factories. Ciaran spent his early years in the lower Falls Road area. He went to Slate Street School and then St. Gall's Primary School. Both schools later closed down.

He then attended St. Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Belfast. After that, he went to Queen's University, Belfast (QUB). There, he studied English.

Carson's Career Path

After finishing university, Ciaran worked for more than twenty years. He was the Traditional Arts Officer for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. This job involved supporting traditional arts. In 1998, he became a Professor of English at QUB. He started and directed the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry there. He retired in 2016 but still worked part-time. He lived in Belfast until he passed away on October 6, 2019, at the age of 70.

Ciaran Carson's Writings

Ciaran Carson wrote many collections of poetry. These include The Irish for No (1987), which won the Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize. His book Belfast Confetti (1990) won the Irish Times' Irish Literature Prize for Poetry. First Language: Poems (1993) won the important T. S. Eliot Prize.

He also wrote prose, which means non-poetry books. These include The Star Factory (1997) and Fishing for Amber (1999). His novel Shamrock Tea (2001) was inspired by Jan van Eyck's painting The Arnolfini Marriage.

Translations and Other Works

Carson translated parts of famous works. His translation of Dante's Inferno came out in 2002. His book Breaking News (2003) won the Forward Poetry Prize and a Cholmondeley Award. He also translated Brian Merriman's The Midnight Court in 2006.

His book For All We Know was published in 2008. His Collected Poems came out in Ireland in 2008 and in North America in 2009.

Ciaran Carson was also a skilled musician. He wrote Last Night's Fun: About Time, Food and Music (1996). This book explored traditional Irish music. He wrote a regular column about Irish music for The Journal of Music. In 2007, he published The Táin. This was his translation of the old Irish epic story, Táin Bó Cúailnge.

Two months before he died, he published a poem in The New Yorker. It was called Claude Monet, "The Artist’s Garden at Vétheuil", 1880. The last lines of this poem were:

It’s beautiful weather, the 30th of March, and tomorrow the clocks go forward.

How strange it is to be lying here listening to whatever it is going on.

The days are getting longer now, however many of them I have left.

And the pencil I am writing this with, old as it is, will easily outlast their end.

Carson's Unique Style

Ciaran Carson's writing style was very special. He combined traditional Irish storytelling with clever, scholarly ideas. He was known for his "long line" poems. This means his lines of poetry were often quite long. This style was influenced by traditional music and other poets.

His first book was The New Estate (1976). But it was with The Irish for No (1987) that he developed his unique style. He blended old storytelling ways with modern writing techniques. For example, the poem 'Dresden' in The Irish for No shows this new style. It starts with everyday scenes before moving to bigger ideas.

Belfast in His Poetry

Carson often wrote about Belfast in great detail. He aimed to describe the city like an encyclopedia. His book Belfast Confetti (1990) focused on this idea. He mapped out Belfast during the Troubles. The language used during the Troubles was as important in his poems as the events themselves. The poem "Belfast Confetti" shows this:

'Suddenly as the riot squad moved in, it was raining exclamation marks,

Nuts, bolts, nails, car-keys. A fount of broken type...'

In First Language (1993), language itself became the main topic. This book won the T. S. Eliot Prize. It included his translations of poems by Ovid, Rimbaud, and Baudelaire. Carson was also influenced by Louis MacNeice. He even included a poem called 'Bagpipe Music'. This poem had a lively rhythm, like an Irish jig.

Carson then entered a very productive period. His focus on language led to new creative works. Opera Etcetera (1996) had poems about letters of the alphabet. It also had poems based on Latin phrases. Translation became very important to him. The Alexandrine Plan (1998) featured sonnets by Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Mallarmé. He translated them into alexandrines, which are 12-syllable lines. This long line suited his style perfectly.

He also published The Twelfth of Never (1999). This book contained sonnets about imaginative themes:

'This is the land of the green rose and the lion lily, /

Ruled by Zeno's eternal tortoises and hares, /

where everything is metaphor and simile'.

The Ballad of HMS Belfast (1999) brought together his poems about Belfast.

Awards and Recognition

Ciaran Carson received many awards for his writing:

• 1978: Eric Gregory Award
• 1987: Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize for The Irish for No
• 1990: Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Poetry for Belfast Confetti
• 1993: T. S. Eliot Prize for First Language: Poems
• 1997: Yorkshire Post Book Award (Book of the Year) for The Star Factory
• 2003: Cholmondeley Award for Breaking News
• 2003: Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year) for Breaking News