Writer, poet and distinguished academic, Professor Robert Anthony Welch, makes a welcome return to the University of Ulster’s Coleraine campus today to launch his latest collection of poetry.Constanza, is a book of poems written in the aftermath of the death of the poet’s son, Egan, and is indebted to Ovid’s Tristia, written in Tomis (now Constanza, Romania) during the Roman poet’s exile when he was banished by the Emperor, Augustus.
Professor Robert Anthony Welch retired from the University of Ulster after twenty five years as Professor of English, the last eight of which he served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts. He is a literary historian, critic and writer of fiction as well as a poet, and has written and edited some sixteen books, including the Oxford Companion to Irish Literature and a history of the Abbey Theatre. This is his fifth volume of verse.
Professor Welch said: “These poems try to give expression to the heart's iron sorrow at the death of someone loved. I sincerely hope there is not a word that is contrived or untrue. But this is what poetry should be anyway.” Constanza will be launched with an introduction by the award-winning poet Ciáran Carson at 6.30pm in room H215, University of Ulster, Coleraine campus, on Tuesday 22 June 2010.
The event is open to staff, students and members of the public, but as seating is limited please reserve in advance by contacting Claire Bleakley, Cultural Development Office on: 028 70324449 or email: cn.bleakley@ulster.ac.uk Constanza will also be launched at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin on Wednesday 23 June at 6pm by poet Anthony Cronin.