Diarmuid Johnson

Writer Diarmuid Johnson (1965) was born in Cardiff (Wales), and brought up in Galway (Ireland). He holds BA, MA and PhD degrees in Celtic Studies. He has published poetry and prose in Irish, Welsh and English.

Johnson's literary activity extends to the field of translation, and he has authored or co-authored several works of Welsh literature in translation, two in Irish, one in English, one in French, and one in Romanian. He has also translated poetry from Romanian into English.

Diarmuid Johnson's many books feature the recent 'Sraith na Teamhrach' (The Tara Trilogy). The trilogy is composed of 'Conaire Mór - Seacht nDoras na Cinniúna' (2017), a retelling of the Old Irish epic 'Togail Bruidne Da Derga'; 'Tuatha Dé Danann - Seilbh Inse Fódla' (2018), a reworking of 'Cath Muighe Tuireadh' and other mythological material; 'Éadaoin - Seacht Snaidhm na Seirce' (2020), a recasting of the great and tragic love story of Éadaoin and Midhir.

Other recent books are 'Pen and Plough - 20th Century Poets and Bards of Ceredigion (Carreg Gwalch, 2016); 'Rún na mBradán - Dánta Gaeilge 2005–2015 (Coiscéim, 2016).

From 1989 to 1996, Diarmuid Johnson lectured in Celtic Studies in Brittany, Germany and Ireland. From 1996 until 2000, he worked as a journalist, scriptwriter and translator in Conamara. He was editor of Cuisle, a monthly journal in Irish, between 1999 and 2000, and was editor of the trilingual online literary journal Transcript from 2002 to 2004. He worked at the Mercator Centre for Minority Languages at The University of Aberystwyth from 2002 to 2006. The years 2007–2013 he spent lecturing in Poland and Germany. In 2014, he was bard in residence with Menter Rhos-y-Gilwen in Pembrokeshire, Wales. He then worked as a freelance writer and musician, contributing to Raidió na Gaeltachta and teaching Irish. Diarmuid Johnson currently spends most of the year in Brussels, Belgium where he works as a translator with the European Commission.[1][2]