Poet John Liddy named as Limerick Person of the Month

POET John Liddy has been named Limerick Person of the Month for his work both in Limerick and abroad.

Now based in Madrid, where he worked for years as a teacher and librarian, John was born in Youghal, Cork, but grew up in Limerick.

Though a Madrid resident, John was fortunately in Limerick to receive his award as he was to give a reading and interpretation of the Complete Short Stories of Robert Graves in Quays Books on Thursday evening.

“It was completely unexpected, a complete surprise,” John said about being honoured with the award. “I’m delighted to receive it. Delighted.”

“You know, something symbolic associated with Limerick is what makes me happy,” he added.

In something of a full circle moment, his first poetry collection, Boundaries, was published in the Limerick Leader in 1974.

Fifty years on, he is proud of how far he has come, and grateful for the support he received along the way.

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“My first poems were in a book called Boundaries, and it was paid for by Nora McNamara, director of the High School of Commerce in those days,” he explained.

“She found me writing these poems and confiscated them, and then decided that they were good enough to be published. And so, she went to the Leader and she financed it.”

“And then, from there, I went on and just kept publishing more books.” John humbly added.

“I’ve come a bit along the road since then thanks to people like Nora”

John is the founding editor, along with Jim Burke, of The Stony Thursday Book, one of Ireland's longest running literary reviews.

Between Boundaries (1974) and Arias of Consolation (2021/22), John has published twelve poetry books, not including his publication Slipstreaming (In the West of Ireland) released earlier this year with Jim Burke.

Slipstreaming (In the West of Ireland ) is a retrospective filled with both poetry and prose, documenting the two author’s reflections as they cycled through the West of Ireland in 1972.

The Limerick Person of the Month award is sponsored by the Limerick Leader, media agency Southern, and the Clayton Hotel.