Biographical History
Denis Devlin was born on April 15, 1908, in Greenock, Scotland, of Irish parents. He was educated at Belvedere College, UCD, Munich University, and the Sorbonne. He entered the diplomatic service in 1935 and served in Italy, New York, Washington, and London, before being appointed minister plenipotentiary to Italy in 1950; accredited also to Turkey 1951; ambassador to Italy 1958. Admired by Beckett, his books are First Poems(1930); Intercessions (1937); Lough Derg and Other Poems (1946), Exile (1949), The Heavenly Foreigner(1950) and his posthumous Selected Poems (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963). He also published Memoirs of a Turcoman Diplomat (Rome, 1959). The Complete Poems of Denis Devlin, edited with an introduction by Brian Coffey, was published in the University Review, Dublin, Volume III, number 5. HisCollected Poems, edited by J.C.C. Mays, is published by The Dedalus Press, Dublin. He died in Dublin on 21 August 1959. The Denis Devlin Memorial Award for Poetry is administered by the Arts Council.