Darren Donohue is an award-winning poet and playwright from Newbridge in Co Kildare, Ireland. His poetry has been published in many highly regarded journals and magazines including Poetry Ireland Review, Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cyphers, Banshee, and Dedalus Press. He was writer-in-residence at Carlow College, St Patrick’s in 2019 and at the Science Gallery, TCD 2020
Publications and Achievements
Turas Press published Darren’s début collection, Secret Poets, in 2022.
His poetry has gained significant recognition, including:
- Nominations for Hennessy Literary Award in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2020.
- Dennis O’Driscoll Literary Award 2020 from Kildare Co Council
- Poetry Town Bursary from Poetry Ireland to support the development of his collection Secret Poets
Darren Donohue, Playwright
Darren is also well-known as an acclaimed playwright. Darren is also well known as an acclaimed playwright. His plays have been produced in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Milan, Prague, Baltimore, Washington DC and New York, for many national and international theatres, companies and festivals, including: the Abbey Theatre, Fishamble, Dublin Theatre Festival, Tramedautore Festival, Three Streets Theatre, Crooked House, Irish Rep NCY and more. He won the Bread and Roses Playwriting Award, 2019 and the Radius Playwriting Competition, 2020 in association with Finborough Theatre.
His dramatic work has garnered several awards including:
- Bread & Roses Playwriting Award 2019
- Radius Playwriting Prize 2020, in association with Finborough Theatre.
- His play I and the Village received its world premiere at the Bread & Roses Theatre, London, and an Offie nomination.
Reviews and Responses
The poems chart the poet’s journey through illness, and his determination to uncover the sublime hiding within the everyday.Jessica Traynor (Author, Liffey Swim, The Quick, Pit Lullabies) gave Secret Poets this enthusiastic endorsement:
“Wry, witty and surreal, the poems in Darren Donohue’s first collection demonstrate a confidence rare in début poets. Cosmopolitan in his sensibilities and attuned to the complexities of Irish and international history, Donohue is an heir to greats such as Matthew Sweeney; poets who challenge us to look outside our narrow selves and glimpse the world through fresh eyes.”
For more reviews of Secret Poets, check out our Reviews page.
The Poetry Happening section of Books Ireland Magazine features Darren reading a poem from Secret Poets.
To browse articles and radio interviews featuring Darren’s work, head over to our Articles and Interviews page.