Mayo poet makes Irish literature history for his adaptation of epic story

A Mayo award-winning poet has published a masterful translation of literature’s greatest story, Homer's The Odyssey.

John Chambers, a native of Castlebar, is receiving wide acclaim for his stunning adaptation which is loyal to Homer’s epic - and yet is absolutely original.

It's the first time in Irish literature that this has been done.

The Odyssey tells the story of one man's extraordinary journey home.

In 2018, when the BBC carried out a worldwide survey among writers, film directors, college lecturers and critics to find the most influential literary work of all time, The Odyssey topped the list.

The central character, Odysseus, is a family man who leaves his wife and newborn son for 20 years; a war hero whose war is over; a brilliant strategist and leader who loses all his men; a loving husband whose insatiable curiosity about women delays his homecoming.

He is a consummate con-artist whose mouth gets him into trouble and whose mind gets him out of it.

Homer is the greatest liar in all of literature, an explorer, adventurer and a refugee.

Published by Europe Books, the book is a sonnet sequence of 570 sonnets which detail and revive Homer’s epic most lovingly and most movingly.

Stephen Collins of The Irish Times described Chambers' work as "a brilliant and accessible interpretation of the greatest tale in western literature."

An acclaimed poet, John Chambers has been published in The Spectator, The Irish Times, New Irish Writing as well as many other Irish and international anthologies and magazines.

His previous books include 101 Irish Lives (Gill and Macmillan) and A Working Day (Revival Press).