1. Eavan Boland

2. Brief History Born in Dublin, Ireland 1944 to Frederick Boland a career diplomat who later became the U.N. President and Frances Kelly a noted post-expressionist painter. She was the youngest of five children. Born in Dublin, Ireland 1944 to Frederick Boland a career diplomat who later became the U.N. President and Frances Kelly a noted post-expressionist painter. She was the youngest of five children.

3. Moved with family to London in 1951 where she first encountered anti-Irish sentiment. This strengthened her identification with her Irish heritage Moved with family to London in 1951 where she first encountered anti-Irish sentiment. This strengthened her identification with her Irish heritage Returned to Ireland and attended Trinity College earning her B. A. and publishing poetry. Returned to Ireland and attended Trinity College earning her B. A. and publishing poetry. Married author Kevin Casey and had two daughters. Married author Kevin Casey and had two daughters. Currently teaching at Stanford University Currently teaching at Stanford University

4. Bibliography POETRY 23 Poems (1962) 23 Poems (1962) New Territory (1967) New Territory (1967) The War Horse (1975) The War Horse (1975) In Her Own Image (1980) In Her Own Image (1980) Night Feed (1982) Night Feed (1982) The Journey (1987) The Journey (1987) Selected Poems 1980- 1990 (1990) Selected Poems 1980- 1990 (1990) Outside History (1990) Outside History (1990) In a Time of Violence (1994) In a Time of Violence (1994) The Lost Land (1998) The Lost Land (1998) Against Love Poetry (2001) Against Love Poetry (2001) New Collected Poems (2005) New Collected Poems (2005) Domestic Violence (2007) Domestic Violence (2007)PROSE Object Lessons: The Life of the Woman and the Poet in Our Time (1995) Object Lessons: The Life of the Woman and the Poet in Our Time (1995)

5. In 1990, Boland published Outside History, a book of poetry divided into three sections: Object Lessons, Outside History: A Sequence, and Distances. The following is an excerpt from R. T. Smith’s essay “Altered Light: Outside History”

6. “In her relentless excavation of the local events and moments that bear witness to women’s legitimate place in history and the interpretative community, Eavan Boland has for a decade brought to light the nature of the myths that women have been relegated to.... Each poem represents a significant skirmish or pitched battle in the quest for full investiture.... The initial section, ‘Object Lessons,’ introduces motifs of exile, fragility and damage, and the puzzling interactions”

7. between men and women through meditations on an elegant fan, [etc.]. Although she makes no pretence of presenting ‘objective’ lessons, she does focus on ‘objectionable’ ones, lessons in which the outsider’s perspective is given weight, the acts and words in the private house and garden are recognized as too close to the lens for conventional history to examine. This is an insurrection against traditional male iconography.”