The term "John Farrell (poet)" is ambiguous, as it refers to at least two distinct poets of the same name. The most commonly documented figures are an Australian poet and journalist (1851–1904) and an American poet and composer (1968–2010).
John Farrell (Australian poet, 1851–1904)
John Farrell (18 December 1851 – 8 January 1904) was an Australian poet, journalist, and social reformer. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Irish immigrant parents who later settled in Victoria, Australia. In his early life, Farrell worked in various manual occupations, including gold digging, droving, and brewery management, before turning to literature and journalism.
In 1878, under the name John O'Farrell, he published Ephemera: An Iliad of Albury, a small pamphlet of verse. His collection Two Stories, a Fragmentary Poem was published in Melbourne in 1882, followed by How He Died and Other Poems (1887). He was a regular contributor to the Telegraph newspaper until 1903. After his death, a memorial edition of his poems was published in 1904 as My Sundowner and Other Poems, with a memoir by critic Bertram Stevens; it was re-issued in 1905 as How He Died and Other Poems.
Farrell was also known for his advocacy of land reform and social causes. He married Elizabeth Watts in November 1876, and the couple had four sons and three daughters. He died in Sydney on 8 January 1904.
John Farrell (American poet, 1968–2010)
John Patrick Farrell (22 May 1968 – 3 November 2010) was an American poet and composer. Born in Glen Cove, New York, he studied music at SUNY Fredonia and later at SUNY Geneseo, where he studied music composition with James Willey. He worked as a bassist in the New York jazz scene and was a member of the Songwriters Guild of America and the American Federation of Musicians.
Farrell moved to Minneapolis in 1994 and later enrolled in the MFA program for Creative Writing at the University of Minnesota, where he studied poetry with Ray Gonzalez. He won an ArtsWords Award in 2002 and published poetry in academic journals. In January 2010, he launched the Atonal Poetry Review, published by Atonal Press. He also served as executive director of the Guadalupe Valley Poetry Celebration in Boerne, Texas. He died on 3 November 2010.
Note on ambiguity
Because the name "John Farrell (poet)" does not uniquely identify a single individual, readers should specify which poet is intended. The Australian poet is the more historically prominent figure in encyclopedic sources, while the American poet is documented primarily through his literary and musical career in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
