Mark Roper steps down after 32 years of lecturing at Kilkenny Liberal Studies Group

After 32 years of wonderful service poet Mark Roper has retired as lecturer of the Kilkenny Liberal Studies Group.

The group recently hosted a lunch to mark the occasion. Mark was born in Derbyshire, England and moved to Ireland with his partner, Jane Keen, in 1980, settling near Piltown.

Kilkenny Liberal Studies Group began in 1986 when a small group of women got together to explore their interest in the liberal arts. They called their original endeavour “A Taste of University” under the umbrella of the Adult Education Services.

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Mark began his association with the group in 1990 when the then committee asked him to teach a class on punctuation. Mark, in his own inimitable way, chose D.H.Lawrence’s “Sons and Lovers” as his text. From small beginnings, the group has gone from strength to strength, now boasting 150 members with a waiting list.

In his 32 years, Mark has covered 150 works of fiction and poetry, from Anton Chekov to James Joyce, from Sylvia Plath to Mary Oliver. The group grew in maturity as readers under his leadership. He has brought so much to their literary table, enhancing their understanding of the works in question without telling them how to think.

Mark has several volumes of poetry published from “The Hen Ark” in 1990 to his latest publication “Beyond Stillness” and has a litany of literary awards to his name. There have been three publications of his collaborative works of poetry and photography with Paddy Dwan. He has written librettos for the late Eric Sweeney’s operatic works. He has taught creative writing with the Adult Education Services in both Kilkenny and Waterford.