Fred Johnston (writer) facts for kids

Fred Johnston (1951-2024) was an Irish writer and musician. He was a talented poet, novelist, and literary critic. He also played music and translated works from other languages.

Fred Johnston started the Western Writers' Centre in Galway. He also helped create the Irish Writers' Co-operative in 1974. In 1986, he founded Galway's yearly Cúirt International Festival of Literature. This festival celebrates books and writing.

Fred Johnston's Life and Work

Fred Johnston was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1951. His family background was quite interesting and diverse. His father's family was from Belfast and followed the Methodist faith. They were also involved in Unionism, which supported Northern Ireland staying part of the United Kingdom. They were also trade unionists, who worked to protect workers' rights.

His mother's family was from Dublin and was Catholic. They admired Michael Collins, a famous Irish leader. Fred spent his first seven years living in Toronto, Canada.

Early Years and Music

From 1962 to 1968, Fred went to St Malachy's College in Belfast. During these years, he learned to play the guitar and banjo. He loved folk music and played it often.

He performed in many places, including on Ulster TV. When he was just 16, he released an album called The Flags Are Out for Celtic. This album featured rebel songs and football songs. He also released a few single songs.

Starting a Writing Career

After school, Fred moved to Dublin. He began working in journalism, writing for newspapers like the Evening Press and The Belfast Telegraph. He also worked in Public Relations, which is about managing how people see a company or person.

He had several stories published in a special section of the Evening Press. In 1972, he won a Hennessy Literary Award for his writing. This was a big achievement early in his career.

Founding the Irish Writers' Co-operative

In 1974, Fred Johnston teamed up with other writers, Neil Jordan and Peter Sheridan. Together, they started the Irish Writers' Co-operative. This group helped new Irish writers publish their books. Some of their first books included The Ikon Maker by Desmond Hogan and Tennis Players by Ronan Sheehan.

Moving to Galway and New Books

Fred moved to Galway in 1978. The next year, 1979, was busy for him. He published his first collection of poems, called Life and Death in the Midlands. He also released a collection of short stories, named Picture of a Girl in a Spanish Hat.

From the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, Fred wrote poems and a short story for Cencrastus. This was a Scottish magazine about literature and arts.

Creating the Cúirt Festival

In 1986, Fred Johnston founded the Cúirt poetry festival. This festival quickly became a yearly event in Galway. It is now one of the biggest literary festivals in Ireland. Fred stopped working with the festival in 1988.

Music and Translations

In the 1990s, Fred formed a traditional Irish folk group called Parson's Hat. They released two albums: Cutty Wren and The Better Match. Their songs have also appeared on other music collections.

In 2000, Fred received a special award to help him translate poems. He worked on translating poems by the French poet Michel Martin. He also translated works by the Senegalese poet Babacar Sall. More recently, he translated poems by the Breton poet Colette Wittorski.

In 2004, he was a writer-in-residence at the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco. This meant he could live and write there for a month. He worked on his novel The Neon Rose and wrote new poems. He also found and translated some poems in the Monégasque language.

The Western Writers' Centre

In 2005, Fred founded the Western Writers' Centre. In Irish, it's called Ionad Scríbhneoiri Chaitlín Maude. It's named after the poet Caitlín Maude. This centre is the only one of its kind in the west of Ireland.

The centre hosts many events for writers and readers. These include readings, lectures, workshops, and courses. It also helps organize the Gort literary festival.

Fred also released two solo music albums, Get You and Local Papers.

Literary Reviews

Fred Johnston often reviewed poetry for magazines like Poetry Ireland Review and Books Ireland. He also wrote reviews for The Irish Times and Harpers & Queen. His work appeared in many literary magazines, including Orbis, New Letters, and The Southern Review.

Fred Johnston's Books

Poetry Collections

• Life and Death in the Midlands (1979) OCLC 22526179
• A Scarce Light (1985) ISBN: 978-0946308347
• Song at the Edge of the World (1987) ISBN: 978-0948339127
• Measuring Angles (1993) ISBN: 978-1874700111
• Browne (1993) ISBN: 978-1898472063
• Canzoni con Accompagnamento d'Arpa (Songs for Harp Accompaniment) (1996) OCLC 35075289
• True North (1998) ISBN: 978-1897648803
• Being Anywhere: New & Selected Poems (2001) ISBN: 978-1873687635
• Paris Without Maps (2003) ISBN: 978-0954231248
• The Oracle Room (2007) ISBN: 978-1905614219

Novels

• Atalanta: A Novel (2000) ISBN: 978-1898256922
• Mapping God = Le Tracé de Dieu (in English and French) (2003) ISBN: 978-0954260798
• The Neon Rose (2007) ISBN: 978-1906061074

Short Story Collections

• Picture of a Girl in a Spanish Hat (1979) OCLC 19678188
• Keeping the Night Watch (1998) ISBN: 978-1898256-58-8
• Dancing in the Asylum (2011) ISBN: 978-1906998448

Plays

• No Earthly Pole

Translations

• Northern Lights (poems by Colette Wittorski, from French) (2007) ISBN: 978-1907276064