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Bio

Jessie Lendennie is founder and Managing Director of Salmon Poetry Ltd, Ireland's most prolific poetry publisher (http://salmonpoetry.com). Since 1981 she has commissioned, edited and published over three hundred books and twenty-six issues of The Salmon International Literary Journal. Salmon is known for its ground-breaking poetry, in particular that of Irish women poets at a time when the poetry of women was generally being ignored. Salmon is also know for its international range - having a substantial list of American, British and Canadian poets.

Jessie, a native of Arkansas, U.S.A., came to Ireland in 1981, after eleven years in London, England. She completed third level education at King's College, London, obtaining a B.A. Honours degree in Philosophy, with a Post Graduate degree in Education. She taught for two years in London, and two years at the Regional Technical College, Galway (now Galway Mayo Institute of Technology).

Her own poetry was first published during her college days in London and she worked for two years with the Poetry Society during which time she developed an interest in publishing.

In 1988 her book, a prose poem entitled 'Daughter', was published, followed in 1990 by 'The Salmon Guide to Poetry Publishing' and in 1992 by 'The Salmon Guide to Creative Writing in Ireland'. A new edition of 'Daughter', with added poems, was published in 2001, and reprinted in 2003. In 2007 she compiled and edited 'Salmon: A Journey in Poetry, 1981-2007',which includes poems from poets published by Salmon during those years. In 2009 she compiled and edited 'Poetry: Reading it, Writing It, Publishing It', which includes essays from poets and publishers on the art of poetry and the realities of the marketplace. In 2010 she compiled and edited 'Dogs Singing: A Tribute Anthology', which includes poems in celebration of dogs, from over 200 poets.

She has given numerous workshops, lectures and writing courses in Ireland and abroad, including Yale University; Rutgers University; The Irish Embassy, Washington D.C; The University of Alaska, Fairbanks and Anchorage; MIT, Boston; The Loft, Minneapolis, MN; Café Teatre, Copenhagen, Denmark; the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Alfred Universary, Alfred, New York; The Irish American Cultural Centre, Chicago; The Bowery Poetry Club, New York City; and Canton University, NY.

She is currently working on a new poetry collection, Walking Here'memoir ' To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky'.

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Daughter - a prose poem (Salmon Publishing/Signpost Press, 1988, reprinted 2001 with added poems)
The Salmon Guide to Poetry Publishing in Ireland (Salmon, 1990)
The Salmon Guide to Creative Writing in Ireland (Salmon, 1992)
Salmon: A Journey in Poetry : 1981-2007 (Salmon, 1997)
Poetry: Reading It, Writing It, Publishing It (Salmon, 2009)
Dogs Singing: A Tribute Anthology (Salmon, 2010)

Anthologies

Irish Spirit (ed. Patricia Monaghan. Wolfhound, 2001)
The White Page: Twentieth Century Irish Women Poets (ed, Joan McBreen, Salmon 1999)
Unveiling Treasures (ed. Ann Owen Weekes. Attic Press, 1993)
Irish Poetry Now (ed. Gabriel Fitzmaurice. Wolfhound Press, 1993)
Faces of Galway (1991)
The Great Book of Ireland (Poetry Ireland)
Midland Review (ed. Nuala Archer, University of Oklahoma, 1986)

 

 

OTHER ACTIVITIES

1995

  • North Clare Writers' Journal - Editor
  • Cúirt Panel on Irish Writing

June 1989

  • Chairperson: Discussion on Women's Writing Feminist Literature,
    Art or Polemics

June 1988

  • Adviser to the Poetry Committee of the Galway Arts Centre

1986

  • Member of the Committee of the Cúirt International Poetry Festival, Galway

1985

  • Member of the Committee to establish the first Galway International Poetry Festival (Cúirt)

Sept '86 - Jan '87

  • Organiser of poetry and short story readings in Galway City Library

1983

  • Founder Member and Chairperson of the Poetry Cooperative
    (Est. 1983) - working in conjunction with Poetry Ireland to bring international writers to the West of Ireland and to provide venues
    for talented local writers.

ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS AND REVIEWS

PRINT and INTERNET

  • Terrain.org
  • The Poetry Porch.com
  • WritingNow.com
  • The Drunken Boat.com
  • Anchorage Daily News (2001)
  • Arkansas Democrat (2001)
  • Arkansas Free Press (2001)
  • Bellingham Herald (Dec., 1981)
  • Books Ireland (1989, 1995)
  • City Tribune (Galway, Jan. 1991)
  • Clare Champion (May 1996)
  • Clonmel Nationalist (May 1988)
  • Colby Quarterly (Colby College, Waterville, ME, Dec. 1992)
  • Courier News (Blytheville, Arkansas, April 1988.2001)
  • Éire/Ireland (1992)
  • Galway Advertiser (1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, June 1988, Sept. 1988, April 1991, Sept. 1991, Dec. 1991, Sept. 1994, 1996, 1998)
  • Graph (1989)
  • In Dublin (Aug., 1988)
  • In Galway (May 1988)
  • Irish Literary Supplement (1989, Spring 1992)
  • Irish Tatler (Oct. 1996)
  • The Irish Times (1988, 1991,1999)
  • Irish Examiner (2001)
  • Irish Independent (2001)
  • The Write Place - profile in The Irish Times (May 1999)
  • News Press Weekender (Oklahoma, April 1988)
  • Poet's Market (USA, 1990)
  • Poetry Australia (1990)
  • The Sunday Business Post (October 1996)
  • The Sunday Press (Feb, 1989)
  • Stillwater Arts and Humanities Council Newsletter (Oklahoma, April 1988)
  • Washington Review (Aug/Sept. 1989)
  • Women's Political Journal (1997)
  • Women's Poetry in Contemporary Ireland, a paper presented by Joan
  • McBreen at the 1st Kerry International Summer School (1994)

RADIO & TELEVISION - (1988 - 1999)

  • Bookside
  • Appraisal
  • Imprint
  • The Arts Show
  • Poet's Chair
  • Poetry Now
  • The Gay Byrne Show
  • The David Hanley Show
  • The Marian Finucane Show
  • Clare FM
  • Galway Bay FM
  • The Sunday Show, RTE