Irish-language Poet Collects Prize In Poland

Warsaw, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th May, 2018 ) :Irish Gaelic language poet Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill on Thursday received the 2018 Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award, named after the anti-communist Polish poet and philosopher, at a ceremony in Warsaw.

"I'm absolutely delighted to get the prize because working in a minority language you get so used to being overlooked, even in your own country," Ni Dhomhnaill said in a statement ahead of the ceremony.

"I want to thank the members of the jury very much, not just on my own behalf, but also on behalf of the Irish language." Ni Dhomhnaill was born in Lancashire, England in 1952, but moved to Ireland with her bilingual family when she was five.

Her work features Celtic folklore, mythology, as well as contemporary issues such as the relationship between Irish and English culture as well as femininity.

Since releasing her first Irish collection of poetry, "An Dealg Droighin," in 1981, she has gone on to also publish children's plays, screenplays and essays.

Her work has notably been translated into English, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian and Polish. Ni Dhomhnaill read several of her poems in the original at the ceremony, which also featured a performance by a traditional Irish folk singer.

Nominated for the Nobel Literature Prize in 1991, Herbert was a potent symbol of Poland's struggle for national independence against the oppressive intentions of its neighbours to the east and west. He died in 1998.