Eavan Aisling Boland[1] (/iːˈvæn ˈæʃlɪŋ ˈboʊlənd/ ee-VAN ASH-ling BOH-lənd;[2] 24 September 1944 – 27 April 2020) was an Irish poet, author, and professor.

[4] A number of poems from Boland's poetry career are studied by Irish students who take the Leaving Certificate.

Boland earned a BA with First Class Honors in English Literature and Language from Trinity College Dublin in 1966.

After graduating, Boland held numerous teaching positions and published poetry, prose criticism and essays.

Her experiences as a wife and mother influenced her to write about the centrality of the ordinary, as well as providing a frame for more political and historical themes.

During this time she composed 'Night Feed' and 'The Tree of Life', and her work remains on a plaque in the hospital garden.

On 15 March 2016, President Obama quoted lines from her poem "On a Thirtieth Anniversary" (from "Against Love Poetry" 2001) in his remarks at a reception in the White House to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

In 1976, Boland won a Jacob's Award for her involvement in The Arts Programme broadcast on RTÉ Radio.

Boland received the Bucknell Medal of Distinction 2000 from Bucknell University, the Corrington Medal for Literary Excellence Centenary College 2002, the Smartt Family prize from the Yale Review and the John Frederick Nims Award from Poetry Magazine 2002.

In 2012, Boland won a PEN Award for creative nonfiction with her collection of essays, A Journey With Two Maps: Becoming a Woman Poet published in 2012.

During this time she composed 'Night Feed' and 'The Tree of Life', and her work remains on a plaque in the hospital garden.