"Ulster poetry without Simmons would be unthinkable, and any discussion of Irish poetry that omits him falls flat on its face... In a destitute time his independence of spirit is exemplary and profound." Thomas McCarthy

"James Simmons has been a constant adder to the gaiety of nations... I suspect that many years from now his handling of the vernacular will seem one of the lasting styles of a very confused literary period." Peter Porter

"Simmons is one of the few genuinely original poets of his time in Great Britain and Ireland." Paul Durcan
 

James Simmons was born in Londonderry in 1933. He published volumes of poems regularly since his first book came out from The Bodley Head in 1967 with a welcome from Graham Greene on the cover. He won the Gregory and Cholmondeley Awards for poetry. He was founder editor of The Honest Ulsterman. Four collections of his songs have been issued, much praised by Paul Durcan. His critical biography of Sean O'Casey (Macmillan) is a standard text. He read and sang all over the world from Tokyo to Los Angeles to Belfast. He was co-director of The Poets' House, which was situated in its formative years in County Antrim and is now in Donegal. He was a member of Aosdana. He was writer in residence at Queens University Belfast. He lectured from 1968 to 1984 at The University of Ulster. James Simmons passed away on June 20th, 2001. His most recent collection of poetry is The Company of Children (Salmon 1999).
 
 
 

(You can remove it later if you change your mind!)