John William Sexton (born 1958) is an Irish poet,short-story writer,radio script-writer andchildren's novelist.[1] He also writes under the pseudonyms of Sex W. Johnston[2] and Jack Brae Curtingstall.[3]
Sexton was born of Irish parents inNewington Green, London, in 1958. He moved to Ireland in 1982 and now resides inKenmare,County Kerry.
He was bornCatholic but has disowned that religion and describes himself as apagan. He is inspired by what he calls a Muse Goddess, which is "the feminine and ancient energy that informs creation".[4]
After moving to Ireland in his early twenties, Sexton's first fiction and poetry appeared in theNew Irish Writing supplement of the daily Irish newspaperThe Irish Press, edited byDavid Marcus. Under Marcus' mentorship he began writingbook reviews for that newspaper, contributing reviews of poetry,folklore, andcomparative religion during the early to mid 1980s.[5]
Sexton's first published short story,Blackthorn, appeared inNew Irish Writing in 1983 and was short-listed for theHennessy Literary Award in 1984.[6] Much of his fiction and poetry has been identified as falling into the categories ofMagic Realism,[7] LiteraryFantasy and Science Fiction.[8] He has published short stories in the Irish science fiction journalAlbedo One. His short storyOn a Planet Similar to Ours, the Virgin Mary Says No first appeared inAlbedo One No. 23[9] and was reprinted in the 2005 science fiction anthologyEmerald Eye: The Best Irish Imaginative Fiction (Aeon Press, Dublin 2005). His fiction has also appeared inThe Stinging Fly,Books Ireland andThe Journal of Irish Literature.
Sexton's poetry has appeared in many leading Irish journals includingThe Stinging Fly,Poetry Ireland Review,THE SHOp,Southword,The Stony Thursday Book andThe Penny Dreadful Magazine. He has also appeared in many poetry anthologies, includingOr Volge L'Anno: At The Year's Turning (Dedalus, Dublin 1998),Poets for the Millennium (Bradshaw Books, Cork 1999),Something Beginning With P (TheO'Brien Press, Dublin 2004),In The Criminal's Cabinet (Nth Position, London 2004),Our Shared Japan (Dedalus, Dublin 2007),The Echoing Years: An Anthology Of Poetry From Canada & Ireland (WIT / SCOP / Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Ireland and Canada 2007), andSeeds of Gravity: An Anthology of Contemporary Surrealist Poetry from Ireland (SurVision Books, Dublin 2020). In 2019 he was invited by the Limerick Writers' Centre to be the inaugural Poet Laureate / an tOllamh for Limerick City and County, as part of April is Poetry Month in Limerick.
In 1999 Sexton collaborated withStranglers frontmanHugh Cornwell on a CD project where, under the pseudonym Sex W. Johnston, he provided lyrics and vocals for theireponymous CDSons of Shiva. The CD was originally available on the Internet under the independent label, HIS Records (HIS CD001, 1999). This version contained 9 tracks and is no longer available. The CD was then signed toTrack Records, expanded to 10 tracks and released in September 2002 (Track Records, TRK1018CD, 2002).[10] It was launched that same year with a live gig at theBrighton Psychedelic Festival.
Between 1999 and 2002 Sexton created and wrote the children's science fiction comedy-dramaThe Ivory Tower, produced and directed by Jacqui Corcoran, forRTÉ Radio.[11] It ran for four seasons, clocking up 103 half-hour episodes. It was for this series that he created the character ofJohnny Coffin who was eventually to appear in the novels published by The O'Brien Press.[12][13]
Sexton was the fiction editor forTheCork Literary Review in 2007.[14] In that same year he won theListowel literary festival Poetry Prize for his poemThe Green Owl.[15][16] Also in 2007 he was awarded a Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship in Poetry.[16][17]