Call Number:

C1563

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 79 boxes
• 31.5 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Title of Collection, Box and Folder Number; Manuscripts Division, Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1935-2016 (inclusive) and 1967-2016 (bulk)

Creator:

Ennis, John (1944- )

Form:

Correspondence -- 20th century and Drafts (documents) -- 20th century.

Abstract:

Consists of writings, editorial files, correspondence, teaching materials, and other professional working files of Irish poet John Ennis (1944- ), including drafts of his published poetry and unpublished work from the late 1960s through 2016, editorial files related to anthologies of Irish and Canadian poetry he edited between 2002 and 2009, and materials documenting the activities of the Irish arts organization Poetry Ireland and its journal Poetry Ireland Review from its inception in 1978 through the 1990s.

John Ennis was born in Westmeath, Ireland, in 1944. He is a graduate of University College Cork and University College Dublin, where he completed his MA in English and American Studies. Ennis's first book of poetry was published by Peter Fallon of the Gallery Press in 1976 and won the Patrick Kavanagh Award. He has also won the Listowel Open Poetry Competition eleven times and the Irish American Cultural Institute Award in 1996. In addition to publishing nineteen books of poetry between 1976 and 2016, Ennis has been editor of Poetry Ireland Review, and served on the board of Poetry Ireland for eleven years. Ennis also worked for forty years at the Waterford Institute of Technology as Lecturer and Head of the School of Humanities. At Waterford, Ennis received his PhD in 1997, and also served as Chair of the Centre for Newfoundland and Labrador Studies. From 2002 to 2007, he co-edited three anthologies of Irish and Canadian poetry, and edited a further all-Canadian anthology in 2009. In 2008, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Laws by Memorial University of Newfoundland, for fostering links between Ireland and Newfoundland, and for his poetry. Ennis retired from education in 2009 and now focuses on poetry and activism. He divides his time between Waterford and Westmeath.

The papers consist of Irish poet John Ennis's writings, working files related to his role as an editor of four anthologies of Irish and Canadian poetry and the Poetry Ireland Review, correspondence pertaining to poetry and other professional activities, files of the Irish arts organization Poetry Ireland, teaching materials, drafts of writings by others, subject files, and audiovisual and digital media. Materials span the length of Ennis's career of over five decades as a poet and literary editor and also document to a lesser extent his work as a creative writing teacher and university administrator.

Ennis's writings include manuscript and typescript drafts, proofs, publicity, source materials, and other papers related to his published poetry and unpublished work from the late 1960s through 2016. While most of this material pertains to Ennis's poetry, there are also drafts of lyrics he wrote for musical collaborations with composer Eric Sweeney and unpublished short stories, as well as a bound copy of Ennis's PhD thesis on the use of myth and archetype in his own work. Additional editorial files document the conception, assembly, and publication of the four anthologies of Irish and Canadian poetry Ennis edited between 2002 and 2009; these files consist of correspondence, submissions, permissions, drafts, proofs, editorial notes, publicity, and financial documents.

Ennis's papers also include materials documenting the activities of Poetry Ireland from its inception in 1978 through the 1990s, as well as its journal Poetry Ireland Review, which Ennis edited from 1988 to 1989; correspondence with fellow poets, editors, publishers, and colleagues; readings, handouts, and lecture drafts from Ennis's tenure as a creative writing lecturer and workshop facilitator; drafts of writings by others that Ennis collected throughout his career; professional subject files containing correspondence, documents, and printed materials related to Irish poetry and various local and international organizations with which Ennis was involved; and a small number of recorded poetry readings, interviews, and other events.