John F. Deane was born in Achill Island, Co Mayo, in 1943. He lives in Dublin and edits The Dedalus Press. In 1979 he found Poetry Ireland, the national poetry society, and its journal The Poetry Ireland Review. He is author of several collections of poetry, including Walking on Water (1994). In 1996, he was elected Secretary General of the European Academy of Poetry. He is the recipient of the 1998 O'Shaughnessy Poetry Award.