Poet Gabriel Fitzmaurice will share new work in reading

Irish poet Gabriel Fitzmaurice will read from his newly published collection Poems of Faith and Doubt as well as selections from his other published works at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, in Davis Auditorium, Palamountain Hall, on the Skidmore College campus. Admission is free and open to the public. 

Fitzmaurice was born in the small village of Moyvane, County Kerry, Ireland, where he still lives. For more than 30 years he taught in the local primary school; retiring as principal in 2007. He is the author or editor of more than 40 books, including collections of poetry in English and Irish, several collections of verse for children, and various collections of essays. He has translated extensively from the Irish and has edited a number of anthologies of poetry in English and Irish. He has also published two volumes of essays and collections of songs and ballads.

Fitzmaurice has twice represented Ireland at the European Festival of Poetry. A former chair and literary advisor of Writers Week (the Writers' Conference in Listowel, County Kerry), and award winner at the Gerard Manley Hopkins Centenary Poetry Competition, he has also found success as a singer of traditional Irish music, and frequently broadcasts on Irish radio and television on matters pertaining to education and the arts.

Critic Declan Kiberd wrote that Fitzmaurice's writing in Poems of Faith and Doubt "affirms, with a fine balance, a margin of hope in a battered but beautiful world."

He has been described as "the best contemporary, traditional, popular poet in English" in Booklist (U.S.), "a wonderful poet" in the Guardian, "one of Ireland's favourite poets" in Books Ireland, "Ireland's favourite poet for children" in Best Books! and "the Irish A.A. Milne" by Declan Kiberd in the Sunday Tribune.

Skidmore's offices of the First Year Experience, Off-Campus Study and Exchanges, and Dean of Special Programs are sponsoring this event.