James Simmons was born in Derry in 1933 and died in County Donegal in 2001.

He taught in universities in Ireland, England and Africa and was Writer-in-Residence at Queen's University, Belfast. His collections of poems included Late but in Earnest, Energy to Burn, Constantly Singing and From the Irish.

Founder editor of The Honest Ulsterman and author of Seán O'Casey (1983), he released a number of LPs of his own songs. With his wife, Janice Fitzpatrick Simmons, he founded The Poet's House, first in Islandmagee, County Antrim, and then in Falcarragh, County Donegal.