McManus received his Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition, MFA in Poetry, and BA in English from the University of South Carolina. He is the author of three books of poetry: Punch., Red Dirt Jesus, and Driving through the country before you are born, as well as the co-editor of the anthology Found Anew. His poetry and prose has appeared in numerous journals, magazines and newspapers throughout the US. Most of McManus’s research in Irish Studies focuses on Contemporary Irish American (and American Irish) Poetry, as well as Irish American identity in the Literature of the American South. He has presented papers on those two topics at ACIS since 2009 and has written book reviews on Irish American poetry and Irish poetry.