Obituary: Kevin Higgins, poet known for intelligence and compassion, who nurtured writers and sought out new talent

He published six books of poetry and wrote his last at Galway University Hospital, where he worked with art worker Margaret Flannery for 17 years as a resident writer and mentor consulted many patients there and on the Merlin Park campus.

Higgins was born in London to Irish parents, who moved to Coventry and then to Galway when he was 7 years old. He attended both St Patrick’s Primary School and St Joseph’s Patrician College (‘The Bish’), and returned to London as a young man after dropping out of a science course at Carlow.

He was heavily involved with the British Labor Party, which he joined when he was 15 years old, and was active in the anti-election tax movement in the 1980s. He maintained his ties to the party when he returned. returned to Ireland three decades ago, but has had his membership suspended multiple times, most recently due to him defending former leader Jeremy Corbyn.

He said one of the issues identified by the Labor’s compliance unit was his reworking of Bertolt Brecht’s poem. Soldier’s Wife Love Song as a satire about Tony Blair and his wife Cherie.​

Higgins met DuMars in Galway in January 1999 when he was a literary magazine editor Burning bushand they married at the Galway Arts Center in 2005. The couple founded a forum for new and emerging writers in 2003 called Over the Edge.

They also teach at the Galway Center for the Arts, Galway University and Galway Institute of Technology, and he has worked with the fraternal charity on creative expression for people with disabilities.

Vinny Browne, Charlie Byrne’s art commentator and bookstore manager, recalls how he applied his political organizing skills to literary events, due to “the disgust of the empty room.”

“Kevin is so good that you can see yourself with an Over the Edge poster on your back when you’re at Tigh Neachtain’s pub,” says Browne.

“There is a large group of writers who have greatly benefited from Kevin’s literary mentorship and guidance, and who would never have become published poets without his encouragement. “

Poet and Aosdána member Mary O’Malley described Higgins as a “tireless writer and teacher” who will be greatly missed, while poet Rachel Coventry spoke at his funeral about his “there was little time for dishonesty” as she recalled many enlightening conversations with him.

A review in cultural issues Higgins’ sixth collection of poems, titled Ecstaticdescribed it as “your reality check and a test to face the truth, no matter how ugly, without flinching”.

Writer Polina Cosgrave said: “Like a wedding ceremony in a high-security prison in London, in Higgins’ poems our lives become a celebration of humour, devotion and nakedness. beautiful custom in the confines of global politics and oppressive social circumstances.

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His last poem, entitled I Always Think I Will Live — which DuMars hopes to include in his seventh collection — is one of the series he has submitted to the weekly magazine. Advertiser Galway after he was diagnosed with a malignant form of cancer late last year.

“Together we agreed that he would document his progress weekly with new poetry, distilled from his rudimentary situation.” Advertiser Galway Editor Declan Varley said he and his colleagues are now mourning the loss of “informative, provocative and defiant words”.

“In a poem, dedicated to his mentor, Mr. Cogito reviews side effectsafter Dr. Janusz Krawczyk, he had a great quote: ‘Because the human body likes nothing more than a good argument with itself,’ notes Varley.

Michael D Higgins said that the poem ultimately represents a “man of the deepest humanity, the gift of words and the courage he wished all men had for him”.

He says he can’t think of anyone who has done more to make the case for performance poetry and poetry in general.​

“For us who have known him for decades, no one can disagree that he is a charming presence and a great friend, guaranteed to never be dull, The President said in his gratitude.