Mary Dorcey

Mary Dorcey
Born	County Dublin, Ireland
Occupation	Writer, poet
Nationality	Irish
Alma mater	Open University

Mary Dorcey is an Irish writer and poet, winner of the Rooney Prize for Irish Fiction, a feminist, LGBT+ activist, and elected member of the Aosdána (Irish Academy of Writers and Artists).

Both her short story collection: 'A Noise from the Woodshed.' and her novel: 'Biography of Desire.' are included in 'The Greatest Book List Ever.' ed. Robert Lindsay. Classic Books of the Past One Hundred Years.

She has published ten books in all, seven poetry collections, a prize winning collection of stories, a novel and one novella.

Her latest book, a poetry collection: "Life Holds Its Breath.' was published in 2022 by 'Salmon Poetry.' Galway.

Her short story collection: "A Noise from the Woodshed." won The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature.' 1990.

Her novel Biography of Desire has been both a best seller and achieved international academic attention. It was described by Clodagh Corcoran in the Irish Times as 'The First Truly Erotic Irish Novel.'

In 2010, following nominations by poet Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and novelist Eugene McCabe, Dorcey was elected to the Irish Academy of writers and artists, Aosdána.

Biography

Dorcey was born in County Dublin, Ireland. She was the first Irish student at the Open University in England, and attended Paris Diderot University in Paris, France. She has lived and worked in the United States, England, France, Spain, and Japan, and now resides in County Wicklow.

Dorcey was the first Irish woman to address gay and lesbian lives in poetry and fiction. She came out in 1974. She joined the Irish Women's Liberation Movement in 1972, and was a founding member of Irish Women United, Women for Radical Change, and The Movement for Sexual Liberation. Her first collection of poetry, Kindling, was published in London, 1987 by the feminist publishing house Onlywomen Press. She has since published six additional poetry collections, one novel, a novella and a collection of prize winning short stories.

Her poetry and fiction is taught (see Academia.edu and Google) at universities throughout Europe,the United States and Canada. It has attracted widespread research over the past 30 years and has been the subject of countless academic essays and critiques. It is reproduced in more than one hundred anthologies representing Irish, Gay and Women's literature.

Her poems are taught on both the Irish Junior Certificate English curriculum and on the British O Level English curriculum. 'First Love' has been selected once more for the revised Junior Cycle and was also included in the BBC Anthology 'A Hundred Favourite Poems of Childhood.'

She has won five major awards for literature from the Arts Council of Ireland in 1990, 1995, 1999, 2005, and 2008.

Critical response

Dorcey's writing is noted as the first work of Irish literature to portray romantic and erotic relationships between women.i.e. "A Noise from the Woodshed" Poolbeg 1989. And "Biography of Desire.'Poolbeg.1997. Her themes include the cathartic role of the outsider, political injustice, and the nature of the erotic power to subvert and transfigure.

Her work has been performed on radio and television (RTÉ, BBC, and Channel 4.) and her stories have been dramatized for radio (BBC) and for stage productions in Ireland, Britain and Australia: 'In the Pink' (The Raving Beauties) and, 'Sunny Side Plucked.'

Recognition

Dorcey's poetry and fiction has been reproduced in more than one hundred anthologies representing Irish, gay, and women's literature. Her poems have been performed on radio and television stations, such as BBC, RTÉ, and Channel 4. and have been taught on the English curriculum for the Irish Junior Certificate and British GCSEs.

'"First Love"' was selected for the revised Junior Cycle and included in the BBC anthology, A Hundred Favourite Poems of Childhood. Her stories have been dramatized for radio and stage productions in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Australia. In March 2023, her poem "Summer" was broadcast on the London Underground to mark St Patrick's Day.

She is a research associate at Trinity College Dublin, where she conducted contemporary English literature seminars and led a creative writing workshop during her ten years as a writer in residence at the Centre for Gender and Women's Studies. She also taught Creative Writing courses at the School for Justice at University College Dublin.

Bibliography

Poetry

• Kindling (London, Onlywomen Press, 1989)
• Moving into The Space Cleared by our Mothers (Salmon Poetry, 1991)
• The River That Carries Me (Salmon Poetry, 1995)
• Like Joy in Season, Like Sorrow. (Salmon Poetry, 2001)
• Perhaps the heart is Constant After All. (Salmon Poetry, 2012)
• To Air the Soul, Throw All the Windows Wide. (Salmon Poetry, 2016) New and selected poetry.
• Life Holds Its Breath. (Salmon Poetry, 2022.

Books, essays and short stories

• A Noise from the Woodshed: Short Stories Onlywomen Press, London, 1989.
• Scarlett O'Hara (novella) in the anthology In and Out of Time, Onlywomen Press, London, 1990.
• Biography of Desire (novel) Poolbeg, Dublin, 1997.
• "The Fate of Aoife and the Children of Lir" in Ride on Rapunzel, Fairytales for Feminists ed. Maeve Binchy, Attic Press, 1992.
• "The Lift Home" in Virgins and Hyacinths ed. Caroline Walsh, Attic Press, 1993.
• "The Orphan" in In Sunshine or in Shadow ed. Mary Maher, Delta editions, Random House, 1999.
• "A Glorious Day" in The Faber Book Of Best New Irish Short Stories 2006–2007 ed. David Marcus.
• "Adrienne" in Queer Love: an anthology of Irish fiction ed. Paul McVeigh, Southword Editions, 2021.

Staged dramatisations

• In the Pink (The Raving Beauties)
• Sunny Side Plucked (Dublin, Project Arts Centre)

See also

• Lesbian poetry

Further reading

• Holoch, Naomi (2010). The Vintage Book of International Lesbian Fiction. Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 368.