Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill

Born to Irish parents who were both doctors working in an Irish mining community in Lancashire, England, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill spoke Gaelic at home. At the age of five, she went to live with an aunt in County Kerry, Ireland, where she was further immersed in the language. As a student at University College in Cork, she studied Irish and English and became part of a group of Irish language poets who were published the literary magazine Innti.

Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill is one of the most prominent poets writing in the Irish language today. Her poetry has been translated into English by a number of well-known Irish poets, including Seamus Heaney, Medbh McGuckian, and Paul Muldoon. Irish themes, including language, are central to her poetry and range from ancient myths to small details of contemporary life. Her first collection was published in 1981, and the translation Selected Poems: Rogha Danta appeared in 1986. Her works have since been translated into Italian, Japanese, and Turkish.