Writing

Poet Mark Roper was Writer in Residence with the Waterford Healing Arts Trust for one year from September 2002.

Mark Roper is one of the most experienced Creative Writing teachers in Ireland and is well known to the people of Waterford. He has conducted classes and workshops in many different settings, including schools, prisons, and senior citizen centres.

Mark was born in England in 1951, moving to Ireland in 1980. His poetry collections include The Hen Ark (Peterloo, 1999), which won the 1992 Aldeburgh Prize for the best first collection; Catching the Light (Peterloo, 1997); and The Home Fire (Abbey Press, 1998). Reviewing the latter for the Irish Literary Supplement, Bill Tinley described Roper as “one of the most accomplished and engaging poets writing in Ireland at present”.