I was born and raised in Dublin. Depending on whom you believe, I was named after either the ancient God of Love (Aengus Og) or after the eponymous hero of “The song of Wandering Aengus” by WBYeats. My father’s family were big on the legends, my mother’s grandmother claimed to have been a WBYeats groupie [family tradition has it that her mind was not her own]. Whichever one of these stories is true, I have found myself wandering aimlessly around the world spreading love for a number of my thirty-ish years. Along the way I picked up a few skills [such as how to pull a tooth] from circus performers, Buddhist monks and the nice people in Trinity College Dublin. My main claim to fame is that, for one afternoon in 1997, I was on standby as the emergency dentist for Bill Clinton.

I co-wrote a short film last year called “Chamelea” which is on the verge of being discovered.

Having been inspired by following Amanda’s progress on this site, in the last few months I have decided to settle down and train myself for ‘a proper job’. Consequently you will now find me in moist Somerset doing an MA in Creative writing.

NICKNAME

Augusto

FAVOURITE MUSIC

Tom Waits “The Early Years” and “Rain dogs”, Artie Shaw “Frenesi”, Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, Celia Cruz, John Martyn, Duke Ellington “Mood Indigo” and so on.

FAVOURITE WRITER

Flann O’Brien

FAVOURITE ARTIST

Caravaggio

FAVOURITE MOVIE

It’s a Wonderful Life

FAVOURITE DIRECTOR

Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock

FAVOURITE PERSON I’VE YET TO MEET

The Coen Brothers

FAVOURITE FOOD

Potatoes

FAVOURITE DRINK

Champagne cocktail

FAVOURITE QUOTES

1. “In this life Elwood, she always called me Elwood, you can be Oh-so-nice or Oh-so-smart. I’ve tried being smart. I recommend nice”
   — from “Harvey” by Frank Capra



2. “I hate dentists and I hate snakes”
   — from one of my former patients.

DISLIKES

Indian sweets, kidneys, average beer

DEFINING MOMENT

Learning to play the clarinet at 24 - I suddenly found my rhythm