Jack Harte - Biography

Background	Jack Harte was born in Killeenduff, near Easkey, Co Sligo, Ireland. When he was nine years old his family moved to Lanesboro, Co Longford, where his father worked for Bord-na-Mona. At the age of eighteen, he came to Dublin where he still lives. He attended primary schools at Killeenduff and Dromore West, Co. Sligo, and at Lanesboro, Co Longford. His secondary education was at Ballyleague, Co Roscommon and Roscommon town. Through evening courses at UCD he got a BA and H Dip in Ed.
Jobs	His first posting was as a bog labourer with Bord-na-Mona. He came to Dublin to take up a job on the docks. He has worked as a bus conductor, a courier, a laboratory technician, an executive officer in the Civil Service. He worked for many years as a teacher in Clondalkin, and as Principal of Lucan Community College.
Short Story Writer	Harte's first collection of stories, Murphy in the Underworld, was published by Glendale Press in 1986. Dedalus Press published his novella, Homage, in 1992 and his second collection of stories, Birds and other Tails, in 1996. From Under Gogol's Nose, a volume of new and selected stories was published by Scotus Press in 2004, along with Lament for the Birds, a CD of his stories and songs commissioned by Sligo County Council. Individual stories have been published in magazines and anthologies in Ireland, Britain, U.S.A., Australia, New Zealand, Finland, India, Bulgaria, and Russia, and have been included in many school text-books.
Novelist	In 2006 Scotus Press published In the wake of the Bagger, a novel commissioned by Sligo Co Council under the Per Cent for Art Scheme of the Irish Government, the first literary work to be so commissioned. 2007 saw the publication in Bulgarian translation of his novel, Reflections in a Tar Barrel. It was launched at the Applonia Arts festival, achieved sensational success in Bulgaria, and became a bestseller. The English version was published by Scotus Press in 2008.
Books in Translation	Bulgaria A selection of his stories, under the title, Birds and Selected Stories, was translated into Bulgarian and published by Orpheus (Sofia) in 2001. Launched at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Harte’s stories hit a cord with the Bulgarian readers and he was invited back frequently afterwards for festivals and readings. In 2007 the publication of Reflections in a Tar-Barrel in Bulgarian before it was published in English further endeared Harte to the Bulgarian public. 2010 saw the translation of In the wake of the Bagger published, again to popular and critical appeal. It was shortlisted for the Krustan Dyankov Award for Vergil Nemchev’s translation. India In 2004 Harte was invited to New Delhi to participate in the Katha Festival, hosted by the Indian Government. Many of his stories were subsequently translated into local languages, and in 2006 a volume of his stories, Dream of a Pyramid, was published by Rajkamal Prakashan in Hindi translation. Russia Many of his stories were translated and published in Russian magazines and newspapers. In 2007 a translation of From Under Gogol’s Nose was published by Voskresenye Publishing House and launched at the Moscow Book Fair. Harte then travelled to Narovchat where he was the guest author at the annual festival celebrating the birthday of the story writer, Alexander Kuprin.
Arts Activist	Harte's achievements as an arts activist are many and significant. In 1985 he set up the Writers' Project at Lucan Vocational School to confront the total absence of professional structures for writers, and pioneered the use of the then new Social Employment Scheme for the purposes of developing the arts. He employed the first official Writer-in-Residence in Ireland during 1985/86 in Lucan - establishing the pattern for this scheme now widely used as a support mechanism for writers. He also set about the twin aims of establishing a Writers' Union and a national Writers' Centre. He established the Irish Writers' Union in January, 1987, and it quickly became a recognised and dynamic force in effecting improvements in conditions for writers. In the same year he got a commitment from the government to make a state building available for a Writers’ Centre, and secured a grant of £100,000 from the National Lottery to establish it. With the involvement of the writers' organisations and the support of a wide range of writers, he negotiated a joint project with Matt McNulty of Dublin Tourism who was in the process of setting up the Dublin Writers' Museum at Parnell Square, and in 1991 the Irish Writers' Centre finally came into existence at 19 Parnell Square. Harte withdrew from active involvement, but not before he had also initiated the move to set up a copyright agency in Ireland.
Back to the Fray	In 2009 the Irish Writers’ Centre was on the point of closing because it had lost its state funding. Harte returned to the Board of Directors and became Chairman, working with other activists and supporters to rescue the stricken Centre. After two years the Irish Writers’ Centre is still afloat, still playing a dynamic role in the development and promotion of writers and writing, still hoping to gain back state support despite the economic conditions. The Irish Times has lauded the effort: see here and here. The Guardian has also praised the work done at the Centre: see here, as has the Corriere della Sera: see here.
Other Arts activities	Harte has acted as judge of the Irish Schools Creative Writing Awards, and the Listowel Writers Week Short Story Competition. He has served on the International Reading Panel for G.E.S., the French-sponsored European Creative Writing Project for young people. He has given creative writing workshops throughout the country, including the Fiction Workshop at Listowel Writers Week. During 2000 - 2001 he helped to establish an arts programme at Airfield in Dundrum, Dublin.
Recent Public Readings	He has given public readings throughout Ireland as well as in England, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, India, Bulgaria, USA, and Russia. They include - January, 2004 Indo-European Literary Festival devoted to the ‘Story’, organized by Katha, New Delhi, India. - May, 2005 International Writers’ Festival, Sofia – Bulgaria’s official event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two. - June, 2005 Dublin Writers’ Festival - July, 2006 Force 12 Festival, Belmullet - September, 2006 Reading Tour of India, including New Delhi and Mumbai. - May, 2007 Reading Tour of venues in the US state of Connecticut. - July, 2007 Lough Ree Arts Festival - September, 2007 Appolonia Arts Festival, Sozopol, Bulgaria - September, 2007 Moscow International Book Fair and Kuprin Festival, Narovchat - March, 2009 Dublin Book Festival - September, 2009 Frank O’Connor Festival, Cork - December, 2010 Irish Embassy, Sofia Read more about Jack Harte online: Ask about writing Irish Times Galway Advertiser