Irish poet, editor, folklorist and playwright Padraic Colum (1881-1972) was born Patrick Collumb in Longford, Ireland. He began writing at an early age; by the early 20th century he had been awarded a clerkship in the Irish Railway Clearing House, moved to Dublin and joined the Irish Republican Army and the Gaelic League. Colum was one of many artists of the Irish Literary Revival, and became a leading figure of the movement. He was a member of the National Theatre Society and the Abbey Theatre, and became close friends with writers James Joyce and W.B. Yeats.
Colum’s poetry uses traditional forms to weave landscape and legend with image and song. During his lifetime, he published more than 50 volumes of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, drama, children’s literature and folklore. Early in his career, he wrote several plays, including The Land (1905) and Thomas Muskerry (1910), both of which were staged at the Abbey Theatre. In 1914, he moved to New York City with his wife, fellow writer Mary Colum where he continued writing. His numerous poetry collections include Wild Earth (1916), Dramatic Legends and Other Poems (1922), Collected Poems (1953) and Irish Elegies (1958). When they lived in New York, Colum and his wife were frequent Fellows at MacDowell, residing for 13 summers between 1920 and 1950.
