A heartfelt attempt to capture the fragility of life: Barbara Dunne reviews ‘Mimesis’ By Michael Quinn and Joe Boske
Many of Michael Quinn’s poem deal with the personal and collective trauma in the Irish psyche.
Books
Guth a thabhairt (Giving voice): Michael Witts reviews Seang (Hungering) by Anne Casey
This beautiful collection is both a joy to read and a challenge. Each poem stands as part of a carefully curated section. The sections combine to form a collection which demands to be read as a whole,
A celebration of informed and fruitful difference: Gig Ryan launches ‘The Wallace Line’ by Jennifer Mackenzie
Jennifer Mackenzie’s work is often ekphrastic, inspired by, or growing out from, another work of art. She doesn’t describe that work of origin, as if outside of it, but becomes thoroughly embedded, moving between direct quotation and poetic re-imagining.
The harrowing task of truth telling: Judith Nangala Crispin reviews ‘The Nightmare Sequence’ by Omar Sakr and artist Safdar Ahmed
The Nightmare Sequence is a profound and deeply moving act of truth-telling created by poet Omar Sakr and artist Safdar Ahmed. It is bravely published by University of Queensland Press, in an almost unprecedented period of censorship in Australia’s artistic and literary scene.
An eloquent case for empathy: Denise O’Hagan reviews The Heart of the Advocate by Angela Costi
With both passion and precision, her poems explore the rift between justice and the law within the often-veiled domestic environment as well as in the courtroom and other more public spaces, in the past and also, urgently, in the present.
A remarkable and many-sided achievement: Eamonn Wall launches ‘Seang (Hungering)’ by Anne Casey
Her new book is her best, bravest, and most ambitious work to date, a remarkable and many-sided achievement that elevates her work, thematically and aesthetically, to a new level.
Secret Restraint: Michael Witts reviews ‘A Woman Talks to her Tongue’ by Alison Gorman
This very beautiful book is a credit to the design flair of Gerhard Bachfischer and the editorial work and fine production values of Mark Tredinnick and Steven Meyrick at 5 Islands Press. It is itself a beautiful object and a triumph for Alison Gorman as her debut collection.
A rich experience expressed intensely and courageously: Barbara Geraghty launches ‘A Bloodless Field’ by Aideen Henry
It seems to me that themes in this collection include medicine, reflecting Aideen’s work as a doctor; relationships, often bringing the sting of betrayal in their endings;
A sustained celebration of what it is to inhabit language: Peter Boyle launches ‘The Literate Detective & Other Crimes’ by Paul Scully
What stands out for me in The Literate Detective is its sustained celebration of what it is to inhabit language, to become larger through breathing in this added dimension language gives us.
Rochford Street Review 