Nowadays, Johnny Flaherty lives on a hill overlooking Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. Originally, he was from the Dorchester section of Boston, and after graduation from Boston College performed his decade of public service: 2 yrs. social worker / 8 yrs. public school teacher. Next came entrepreneurial ventures, the last of which was a Victorian-Gothic boutique in Salem, ma called The Fool’s Mansion. Upon retirement he began writing his poetry more diligently, and more profusely.
Johnny has published 3 full books of poetry: Perfectly Round Ripples, Gimme Liberty I Can Smell, Ebbing and Fibbing. A chapbook on Muses will be out soon. Also, he has recorded a full-length poetry CD, Johnny Flaherty’s Renderings: sideshow poetry.
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Johnny Flaherty, bard, shines in live recitation with distinctive voice and engaging delivery. In addition to poetry venues, he has recited his poems on tv, radio, rock shows, Irish pubs . . .
Johnny has been labeled “Irish bard, storyteller, troubadour . . . using a style that invokes the essence of poets of old.” (IndieReader)
“The poet brings a compassionate eye to how people, nature, and animals suffer in this fallen world. Against darker images, he delights in pleasures like good company, drink, and his pet cat, who reminds him “it’s so good to be not dead.”(Kirkus Reviews)
“Flaherty cuts straight to the point, and his poetry is not deeply buried in tangled metaphors and subtle suggestions. This accessibility is reminiscent of his Beat Generation brethren, who often discussed the hardest and most universal elements of existence in simple terms and plain speech, disjointed and tangential as it may have been.” (SPR, Self-Publishing Review)
His poems have been solicited and published in Boston’s It’s All About Arts; The Café Review (Portland); Found Muses; Fire Island Tide . . .
Also, his poems have been set to music and recorded by folk rockers Uncle Dick and John McHugh.
Johnny Flaherty Bard 