Thomas MacGreevy Irish poet and writer Date of Birth: 26.10.1893 Country: Ireland

1. Biography of Thomas MacGreevy
2. Early Life and Military Service
3. Literary Career and Friendship with James Joyce
4. Paris Years and Friendship with Samuel Beckett
5. Poetry and Art Criticism
6. Art and Museum Work
7. Legacy and Religion

Biography of Thomas MacGreevy

Thomas MacGreevy was an Irish poet and writer, who played a key role in the history of Irish modernist literature. He was born on October 26, 1893, in County Kerry, Ireland, to a police officer and a primary school teacher.

Early Life and Military Service

At the age of 16, MacGreevy entered the civil service and started as a junior clerk. During the First World War, he was promoted and served in the intelligence division of the Admiralty. In 1917, he joined the active army and witnessed the horrors of the battles of Ypres and Somme, being wounded twice.

Literary Career and Friendship with James Joyce

After the war, MacGreevy became a student at Trinity College, Dublin, and began publishing articles in Irish newspapers and journals, as well as writing his first poems. In 1924, he met the Irish novelist and poet James Joyce in Paris. The following year, he moved to London, where he met the American poet, playwright, and critic Thomas Stearns Eliot, and started writing for "The Criterion," a modernist literary journal, and other publications. During this period, MacGreevy also published his own poetry.

Paris Years and Friendship with Samuel Beckett

In 1927, MacGreevy went to Paris to teach English at the École normale supérieure. There, he became friends with the Irish writer and future Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett, and rekindled his friendship with Joyce. His essay "The Catholic Element in Work In Progress" was published in 1929 in a collection of critical essays titled "Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress." Together with Beckett, MacGreevy signed the "Poetry is Vertical manifesto" in 1930.

Poetry and Art Criticism

In 1934, MacGreevy's poetry was published in London and New York. These works showcased his absorption of imagism and influence from Eliot's poem "The Waste Land," while also highlighting his unique Irish perspective. The collections received praise from Wallace Stevens, and the two poets began a regular correspondence. Unfortunately, these collections were the only ones published during MacGreevy's lifetime. Two more collections were published after his death in 1971 and twenty years later. Meanwhile, MacGreevy continued to write regularly for London publications, mainly reviewing books, operas, and ballet performances. In addition to reviews, poems, and essays on "Finnegans Wake," he authored two books on the works of Eliot and Richard Aldington. Both studies, "T.S. Eliot: A Study" and "Richard Aldington: An Englishman on Richard Aldington," were published in 1931.

Art and Museum Work

In 1929, MacGreevy started working for "Formes," an art magazine, and published a translation of Paul Valéry's "Introduction à la méthode de Léonard de Vinci." In the mid-1930s, he returned to London and supported himself by giving lectures at the National Gallery. From 1938 to 1940, MacGreevy served as the chief art critic for "The Studio" magazine. He published several books on art and artists, including "Jack B. Yeats: An Appreciation and an Interpretation" and "Pictures in the Irish National Gallery" in 1945, and "Nicolas Poussin" in 1960. From 1950 to 1963, MacGreevy served as the director of the National Gallery of Ireland.

Legacy and Religion

Thomas MacGreevy remained a devout Catholic throughout his life, and his religion influenced both his poetry and professional life. During the Second World War, he wrote for "Father Mathew Record" and "The Capuchin Annual" and served on the editorial board of the latter. In this role, MacGreevy managed to bring elements of Western Catholic intellectual tradition to the more conservative Irish context. He passed away on March 16, 1967.