Born in Glasgow in 1927 of Irish parents, Pearse Hutchinson moved to Dublin in 1932, and was educated at Synge Street and University College Dublin. His first published poems were in The Bell in 1945, and since then he has published over a dozen separate collections of poems in English, Irish, and in translation from several European languages.

Reflecting the astonishing linguistic and cultural range of Hutchinson's interests and projects as a writer, Reading Pearse Hutchinson gathers together a diverse group of scholars who engage with the varied aspects of the poet's achievement - from his poems in English and Irish to translations from European languages such as Catalan, Spanish and Galaico-Portuguese.