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An Triail (The Trial) is a play written by the Irish playwright Mairéad Ní Ghráda. The play is written in the Irish language. An Triail is set in the west of Ireland during the 1960s and deals with the pregnancy, and subsequent single motherhood, of a young girl. She is shunned by her family after getting pregnant by the local primary school teacher, a married man with a sick wife, and must leave her parish and move to the city. Here she is once again marginalised, first as a pregnant woman and then as a single mother. An encounter with the child's father, where he further rejects her and his child, only serves to make matters worse and the girl takes her own life, as well as that of her child. Irish Language Title. Great for Teens and Young Adults ISBN 9781857919738 -
Dubliner Jan Brierton wrote her first poem in January 2021. Frustrated with daily walks to parks, and longing for contact with beloved friends, Jan’s internal dialogue leaked out onto a page one night. ‘I think I wrote a poem’ she told her husband. ’Are you ok?’ he asked... That poem ‘What day is it, who gives a f**k’ went viral and caught the imagination of lockdown-exhausted women and men all over the world. Roisin Ingle at The Irish Times, one of Jan’s trusted few, received the poem in a late-night WhatsApp message. Roisin went on to share the poem on her Twitter page, The Irish Times Women’s Podcast and an asterisked version of the poem in The Irish Times. The poem has been shared extensively through WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, continuing to resonate with so many, all over the world. Jan’s lyrical writings offer a fresh perspective on modern life, written with humour, heart and honesty. -
A remarkable first collection by an important new poet. In this collection, Seán Hewitt gives us poems of a rare musicality and grace. By turns searing and meditative, these are lyrics concerned with the matter of the world, its physicality, but also attuned to the proximity of each moment, each thing, to the spiritual. Here, there is sex, grief, and loss, but also a committed dedication to life, hope and renewal. Drawing on the religious, the sacred and the profane, this is a collection in which men meet in the woods, where matter is corrupted and remade. There are prayers, hymns, vespers, incantations, and longer poems which attempt to propel themselves towards the transcendent. In this book, there is always the sense of fragility allied with strength, a violence harnessed and unleashed. The collection ends with a series of elegies for the poet's father: in the face of despair, we are met with a fierce brightness, and a reclamation of the spiritual. 'This is when / we make God, and speak in his voice.'Paying close attention to altered states and the consolations and strangeness of the natural world, this is the first book from a major poet. *SHORTLISTED for Dalkey Literary Awards Emerging Writer of the Year 2021* ISBN 9781787332263 -
New Selected Poems includes the key poems of Eavan Boland's career to date, from New Territory (1967) to Domestic Violence (2007), concluding with a selection of new poems. Developing her work through more than a dozen collections, Boland continues to find new dimensions in language, in history and in the body subject to passion and to time. Her critical writing, her poetry and her example have made an emancipating difference to writing in Ireland. As she remarked in an interview in 2000, 'women are now writing the Irish poem across a very big register of new tones, new subjects, new approaches...I think I was one of the poets who became convinced of the need for change.' A new collection from Eavan Boland, a pioneering figure in Irish poetry who has been credited with inspiring a generation. This will be her final collection, following her passing in April 2020. ISBN 9781784109141 -
Following the success of her lockdown collection What Day Is It? Who Gives a F*ck, Jan Brierton returns with a new collection that covers love, aging, and the menopause, all delivered in her own unique, mischievous, and entertaining style. Dimensions:105 x 148 x 10 (mm) Paperback / softback 112 pages / 70g -
Published to celebrate the seventieth birthday of acclaimed Irish poet Eavan Boland, this book brings together many of Boland's best known poems with her own striking photographs of her native city, Dublin. Through juxtaposition of text and image, place and memory, the book creates a unique portrait of the city: 'fragments', Boland says, 'can point at something accurately'. A Poet's Dublin also includes an introduction by Jody Allen Randolph and a conversation between Eavan Boland and Paula Meehan in which the two poets reflect on their shared city and the central role it has played in their lives and in their work. ISBN 9781847774477 -
You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson is a queer, political, and feminist collection guided by self-reflection. The poems range from close examination of the deeply personal to the vastness of the world, exploring the expansiveness of the human experience from love to illness, from space to climate change, and so much more in between. One of the most celebrated poets and performers of the last two decades, Andrea Gibson's trademark honesty and vulnerability are on full display in You Better Be Lightning, welcoming and inviting readers to be just as they are. ISBN 9781943735990 -
The Poetry Pharmacy is one of the bestselling (and most giftable) poetry anthologies of recent decades. Now, after huge demand for more prescriptions from readers and 'patients' alike, William Sieghart is back. This time, tried-and-true classics from his in-person pharmacies are joined by readers' favourite poems and the new conditions most requested by the public - all accompanied by his trademark meditations (warm, witty and understanding, with just a twist of the challenging) on the spiritual ailments he seeks to cure. From ageing bodies and existential crises to long-distance relationships and embracing your slovenliness, The Poetry Pharmacy Returns caters to all-new conditions while drilling further down into the universals: this time, the challenges of family life, and of living as a person among others, receive a much closer look. Perfect for the treasured friends, barely tolerated siblings, beloved aunts and revered grandparents in your life. ISBN 9780241419052 -
"A phenomenal collection, Angelou's poetry is a joy to read. If you want poetry that pulls no punches then check out 'Family Affairs' - a dark, honest look at the difference skin colour makes for women - or 'Caged Bird'. If you're looking for a self-esteem boost then 'Phenomenal Woman' and 'Still I Rise' are a must read. Essential poetry for any time." Rebekah ISBN 9780860687573 -
Do our passions control us or us them? These poems find themselves asking such questions in hospitals, in cellars, in Parisian parks and American laundromats, inside our screens and beyond them. Poems of blood and birdsong, of rain and desire, of aftermath and ambivalence, each spoken by a voice, which - like the starlings - sings, at once, both past and present. "Looking into the dark sky of history, Doireann Ní Ghríofa calls up an illuminating fire, a night constellated into images of passion and destruction. An astrologer of the body, its endurance and its vulnerability, Ni Ghriofa is a poet of daring skill. Lyrical, searching and enchanted, To Star the Dark is a blazing, brave collection." - Sean Hewitt ISBN 9781910251867 -
In Pathogens Love A Patsy, Rita Ann Higgins bears witness to a moment in Irish life unlike any seen in a century: the Covid-19 crisis. Many of these pandemic poems, broadcast on Brendan O’Connor’s RTÉ Radio 1 radio show, were composed weekly in direct response to the emerging crisis. At the centre of the collection, a devastating sequence celebrates the memory of Hanna Greally, wrongfully incarcerated in an Irish psychiatric hospital for almost two decades. Then, completing an informal triptych, a selection of work written before the emergency marks the point when everything changed. Rita Ann Higgins’s wry, conversational style serves a serious purpose: to tell it like it is. Together, the poems in Pathogens Love a Patsy form a narrative that spans eighty years, from a past that is still being addressed, to a present moment that is still unfolding. ISBN 9781912561902 -
Victoria Kennefick's daring first book, Eat or We Both Starve, draws readers into seemingly recognisable set-pieces - the family home, the shared meal, the rituals of historical occasions, desire - but Kennefick forges this material into new shapes, making them viable again for exploring what it is to live with the past - and not to be consumed by it. Rebecca Goss writes: 'Victoria Kennefick writes with a fresh urgency, giving us poems that are honest and fearless. She once said: "Poetry has saved my life, made my life. Reading and writing it have taught me bravery and discipline." Kennefick is unafraid to explore bereavement, sex and the female body in her poetry. She writes with a visceral originality. Her poems are rich with physical sensations. She is able to find beauty in the big subjects like sorrow and desire, offering us the finest, most startling details. Her identity as a young Irish woman is hugely important to her, something she explores with intelligence and candour. I have always felt there is nothing Victoria could not tackle. The scope in her work is exhilarating.' ISBN 9781800170704 -
"I picked this up on a whim, and the same day had a sudden death in the family. I can't describe how much the poems in this collection helped - paired with Sieghart's musings on emotional maladies- then and everyday since. To me, it is as important to have in the house as plasters and a fire extinguisher." Rebekah ISBN 9781846149542 -
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Poet Stephen James Smith's sympathies lie with the addicted and the convicted, often responding to what he finds on life's margins. His sharp-edged forceful language derives from his gifts as a performance poet and his fearlessness in looking into the eye of his subject matter. His poems get their charge, as well as their shape and substance, from his use of demotic rhythms, the vividness of his vernacular and his emotional directness. ISBN 9781851321445 -
New Selected Poems includes the key poems of Eavan Boland's career to date, from New Territory (1967) to Domestic Violence (2007), concluding with a selection of new poems. Developing her work through more than a dozen collections, Boland continues to find new dimensions in language, in history and in the body subject to passion and to time. Her critical writing, her poetry and her example have made an emancipating difference to writing in Ireland. As she remarked in an interview in 2000, 'women are now writing the Irish poem across a very big register of new tones, new subjects, new approaches...I think I was one of the poets who became convinced of the need for change.' ISBN 9781847772411 -
Out of stock
Throughout her celebrated career, Mary Oliver touched countless readers with her brilliantly crafted verse, expounding on her love for the physical world and the powerful bonds between all living things. Devotions is a stunning, definitive and carefully curated collection featuring work from over fifty years of writing - from Oliver's very first book of poetry, No Voyage and Other Poems, published in 1963 at the age of 28, through to her last collection, Felicity, published in 2015. This timeless volume, arranged by Oliver herself, showcases the beloved poet at her edifying best. Within these pages, she provides us with an extraordinary and invaluable collection of her passionate, perceptive, and much-treasured observations of the natural world. 'No matter where one starts reading, Devotions offers much to love, from Oliver's exuberant dog poems to selections from the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Primitive, and Dream Work, one of her exceptional collections. Perhaps more important, the luminous writing provides respite from our crazy world and demonstrates how mindfulness can define and transform a life, moment by moment, poem by poem' The Washington Post -
This collection of poems by Paula Meehan gathers together work published between 1991 and 2016 from collections that have been lauded, awarded and widely translated. Collections that have gained a large audience and a considerable reputation, nationally and internationally, by one of Ireland's foremost poets and most distinctive voices. A great deal has changed in the world in the arc of time covered by these poems, and those changes are noted and considered by poems that are remarkable for their clear-eyed witness. Meehan's devotion to, and mastery of, her craft, has always been one of the key signatures of her work, as has been her immersion in her beloved native Dublin. In her Selected Poems we see this and more - her uncompromising engagement with the politics of gender and class, her love of the natural world and her grief at what threatens it, her holistic and visionary impulse to bless the creation, and to be grateful for her place in it. ISBN 9781910251775 -
Clive James read, learned and recited poetry aloud for most of his life. In this book, completed before just before his death, he offers a selection of his favourite poems and a personal commentary on each. In the last months of his life, his vision impaired by surgery and unable to read, Clive James explored the treasure-house of his mind: the poems he knew best, so good that he didn't just remember them, he found them impossible to forget. The Fire of Joy is the record of this final journey of recollection and celebration. Enthralled by poetry all his life, James knew hundreds of poems by heart. In offering this selection of his favourites, a succession of poems from the sixteenth century to the present, his aim is to inspire you to discover and to learn, and perhaps even to speak poetry aloud. In his highly personal anthology, James offers a commentary on each of the eighty or so poems: sometimes a historical or critical note on the poem or its author, sometimes a technical point about the poem's construction from someone who was himself a poet, sometimes a personal anecdote about the role the poem played in his own life. Whether you're familiar with a poem or not - whether you're familiar with poetry in general or not - these chatty, unpretentious, often tender mini-essays convey the joy of James's enthusiasm and the benefit of his knowledge. His urgent wish was to share with a new generation what he himself had loved. This is a book to be read cover to cover or dipped into: either way it generously opens up a world for our delight. ISBN 9781529042108 -
An immersive collection of poetry to open your world, curated by the host of Poetry UnboundThis inspiring collection, edited by Padraig O Tuama, presents fifty poems about what it means to be alive in the world today. Each poem is paired with Padraig's illuminating commentary that offers personal anecdotes and generous insights into the content of the poem. Engaging, accessible and inviting, Poetry Unbound is the perfect companion for everyone who loves poetry and for anyone who wants to go deeper into poetry but doesn't necessarily know how to do so. Poetry Unbound contains expanded reflections on poems as heard on the podcast, as well as exclusive new selections. Contributors include Hanif Abdurraqib, Patience Agbabi, Raymond Antrobus, Margaret Atwood, Ada Limon, Kei Miller, Roger Robinson, Lemn Sissay, Layli Long Soldier and more. -
Seamus Heaney had the idea to form a personal selection from across the entire arc of his poetry, small yet comprehensive enough to serve as an introduction for all comers. He never managed to do this in his lifetime, and no edition exists which has such a broad range, drawing from first collection to last. But now, at last, the project has been returned to, resulting in an intimate gathering of poems chosen and introduced by the Heaney family. Coinciding with the National Library of Ireland launching a major exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Seamus Heaney, 100 Poems is a singular, accessible collection for new and younger readers that has the opportunity to reach far and wide, now and for years to come. ISBN 9780571347162 -
A special edition of the poem The Hill We Climb, read at the inauguration of the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden, on January 20, 2021 On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman became the sixth and youngest poet, at age twenty-two, to deliver a poetry reading at a presidential inauguration. Her inaugural poem, The Hill We Climb, is now available to cherish in this special edition. ISBN 9781784744601 -
The complete screenplays of the acclaimed Emmy-nominated television drama based on Sally Rooney's bestselling novel. "You know, I did used to think that I could read your mind at times." "In bed you mean." "Yeah. And afterwards but I dunno maybe that's normal." "It's not." Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in the west of Ireland, but the similarities end there. In school, Connell is popular. Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation, something life-changing begins. With an introduction by director Lenny Abrahamson and featuring iconic images from the show, Normal People:The Scripts contains the complete screenplays of the acclaimed Emmy-nominated television drama based on Sally Rooney's bestselling novel. ISBN 9780571367863 -
“Every sickness gets better or kills. I am the strangeness in-between.” In this deeply intimate debut collection Trudie Gorman explores the connection between class, poverty, and illness. Journeying from a council estate in the 90s to the fractured ecosystem of the present day, she contends with the grief of losing her body to illness, whilst also finding hope and connection. The body in all of its morphisms is the main character here, while memory, legacy, violence against women, healthcare, working-class culture and love ripple through the collection in vibrant coexistence. The poems are at once visceral and unflinching in their depictions, yet always stretch towards the light, capturing what it means for a life to bloom in the dark. “Gorman’s is an urgent, fresh and essential new voice in Irish poetry.” —Victoria Kennefick “In this startling collection Trudie Gorman dares the reader to look at the sicknesses that riddle society, the ones we refuse to acknowledge. These are poems of violence and tenderness, of love and fear, of fury survival.” —Alice Kinsella -
From the Number One Sunday Times bestselling author of milk and honey and the sun and her flowers comes her greatly anticipated third collection of poetry. rupi kaur constantly embraces growth, and in home body, she walks readers through a reflective and intimate journey visiting the past, the present and the potential of the self. home body is a collection of raw, honest conversations with oneself - reminding readers to fill up on love, acceptance, community, family, and embrace change. illustrated by the author, themes of nature and nurture, light and dark, rest here. i dive into the well of my body and end up in another world everything i need already exists in me there's no need to look anywhere else - home. ISBN 9781471196720 -
A Lick and a Promise is the debut poetry collection of one of Ireland's most famed female musicians, Imelda May. Following the release of her first poetry EP Slip Of The Tongue in 2020, this collection contains 104 poems, including two each from both her father and young daughter. Using the themes of Breast, Below, Blood, Eyes, Tongue and Temple, the poems are written in May's absorbing, visceral style and encapsulate heartbreak, sex, nature and womanhood. Included in the collection is 'You Don't Get to be Racist and Irish', the powerful poem which was written in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and was recently used by Rethink Ireland campaign. This paperback edition follows the hugely successful sold-out hardback edition and features a bespoke cover design illustration. Pen and ink drawings by Imelda accompany selected poems. ISBN 9780571542390 -
A glorious and ambitious sequel to 'I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree' this lavishly illustrated gift book treasury of 366 animal poems - one for every day of the year - ranges from unforgettable classics to contemporary works from around the world, including poetry in translation. The spectacular range of poems for children includes work by Roger McGough, William Blake, Dick King-Smith, Ted Hughes, Grace Nichols, Lewis Carroll, Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson. Britta Teckentrup's breathtaking illustrations bring together all the richness and wonder of the animal kingdom, making this poetry anthology a perfect gift that will be treasured by generations. With sumptuous finishes including cloth binding, full colour illustrations throughout, textured paper jacket, ribbon marker, and head and tail bands. The perfect gift for any child or adult to treasure. Great for Ages 5-99. ISBN 9781788005678 -
Under a sky the colour of extinctionyou choose your own conclusion. The Earth might have already done so…and ten thousand years of civilisationwill shrink to an unrepeated moment. The Colour of Extinction is a collection for our times: taking all of nature into its focus, these carefully crafted lines leave the reader mulling over our interaction with – and overuse of – the natural world. Split into four strands, focusing on the climate crisis, birds, Australia and the melting polar caps, The Colour of Extinction forces us to confront the possible futures of the planet that we are destroying yet are so reliant on. -
Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe's spellbinding debut poetry collection explores love and the wounds it makes. Its first half is composed of five sections, corresponding to the five arrows of Kama, the Hindu God of Love, Desire and Memory. From 'stunning' and 'paralysing' to 'killing' and 'destroying', each arrow has its own effect on some body - a very real, contemporary body - and its particular journey of love. The second is a long narrative poem, 'A is for [Arabs]', which follows a different kind of journey: a family of refugees who have fled to the West from conflict in an unspecified Middle Eastern country. With an extraordinary structure, yoking abecedarian and Fibonacci sequences, it is a skilful and intimate account of migration and exile, of home and belonging. ISBN 9780571365562 -
Maybe our world will grow kinder eventually. Maybe the desire to make something beautiful is the piece of God that is inside each of us. In this stunning collection, Mary Oliver returns to the imagery that has defined her life's work. Herons, sparrows, owls and kingfishers flit across the page in meditations on love, artistry and impermanence. Whether considering a bird's nest, the seeming patience of oak trees or the paintings of Franz Marc, Mary Oliver reminds us of the transformative power of attention and how much can be contained within the smallest moments. Blue Horses asks what it truly means to belong to this world and to live in it attuned to all its changes. 'To be human,' she shows us, 'is to sing your own song'. ISBN 9781472153746 -
Seamus Heaney had the idea to form a personal selection of poems from across the entire arc of his writing life, small yet comprehensive enough to serve as an introduction for all comers. He never managed to do this himself, and no other edition exists which has such a broad range, drawing from first to last of his prize-winning collections. But now, finally, the project has been returned to, resulting in an intimate gathering of poems chosen and introduced by the Heaney family. In 100 Poems, readers will enjoy the most loved and celebrated poems, as well as discovering new favourites. It is a singular and welcoming anthology, reaching out far and wide, now and for years to come. ISBN 9780571347155 -
Kathleen Watkins returns to charm us all once again with a wonderful selection of poetry. These are the verses that have comforted and consoled her over the past year, that she has reached for again and again. The poems offer solace in a difficult time, bringing the reader away from our own world and into a place filled with beautiful words and images. Featuring poems by Eavan Boland, Derek Walcott, Carole Ann Duffy and W.B. Yeats, this is the perfect collection for anyone with an appreciation of the written word. ISBN 9780717190232 -
An intimate, autobiographical poetry collection from legendary artist and activist, Joan Baez. Joan Baez shares poems for or about her contemporaries (such as Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, and Jimi Hendrix), reflections from her childhood, personal thoughts, and cherished memories of her family, including pieces about her younger sister, singer-songwriter Mimi Fariña. Speaking to the people, places, and moments that have had the greatest impact on her art, this collection is an inspiring personal diary in the form of poetry. While Baez has been writing poetry for decades, she’s never shared it publicly. Poems about her life, her family, about her passions for nature and art, have piled up in notebooks and on scraps of paper. Now, for the first time ever, her life is shared revealing pivotal life experiences that shaped an icon, offering a never-before-seen look into the reminiscences and musings of a great artist. Like a late-night chat with someone you love, this collection connects fans to the real heart of who Joan Baez is as a person, as a daughter and sister, and as an artist who has inspired millions. -
From Misha Collins, actor, longtime poet, and activist, whose massive online following calls itself his "Army For Good," comes his debut poetry collection, Some Things I Still Can't Tell You. Trademark wit and subtle vulnerability converge in each poem; this book is both a celebration of and aspiration for a life well lived. This book is a compilation of small observations and musings. It's filled with moments of reflection and a love letter to simple joys: passing a simple blade of grass on the sidewalk, the freedom of peeing outdoors late at night, or the way a hand-built ceramic mug feels when it's full of warm tea on a chilly morning. It's a catalog and a compendium that examines the complicated experience of being all too human and interacting with a complex, confounding, breathtaking world ... and a reminder to stop and be awake and alive in yourself. ISBN 9781524870546 -
Compiled around 1235, the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, or Ogura’s 100 Poems by 100 Poets, is one of the most important collections of poetry in Japan. Though the poets include emperors and empresses, courtiers and high priests, ladies-in- waiting and soldier-calligraphers, the collection is far more than a fascinating historical document. This new translation, entitled A Gap in the Clouds, is the first to be published in Ireland. As the translators note in their Introduction, “these beautiful poems have endured because their themes are universal and readily understood by contemporary readers”. Published on 11 February, 2021, to mark Japan’s National Foundation Day. ISBN 9781910251829 -
At home and in government, contemporary America finds itself riven by a culture war in which aggression and defensiveness alike are on the rise. It is not alone. In such partisan conditions, how can humans best approach one another across our differences?Taking the study of whiteness and white supremacy as a guiding light, Claudia Rankine explores a series of real encounters with friends and strangers - each disrupting the false comfort of spaces where our public and private lives intersect, like the airport, the theatre, the dinner party and the voting booth - and urges us to enter into the conversations which could offer the only humane pathways through this moment of division. Just Us is an invitation to discover what it takes to stay in the room together, and to breach the silence, guilt and violence that surround whiteness. Brilliantly arranging essays, images and poems along with the voices and rebuttals of others, it counterpoints Rankine's own text with facing-page notes and commentary, and closes with a bravura study of women confronting the political and cultural implications of dyeing their hair blonde. Wry, vulnerable and prescient, this is Rankine's most intimate work, less interested in being right than in being true, and being together. ISBN 9780241467107 -
A beautifully illustrated collection of lyrics and never-before-seen poetry and sketches from Florence Welch. "Songs can be incredibly prophetic, like subconscious warnings or messages to myself, but I often don't know what I'm trying to say till years later. Or a prediction comes true and I couldn't do anything to stop it, so it seems like a kind of useless magic." Pop's high priestess bares her soul in this candid collection of poems and lyrics. 'Generous in its honesty, by the end you feel as though you have climbed into the colourful, and sometimes tortured, world of a passionate artist' i. 'Makes the reader feel as though they're peeking into a private journal' Refinery29. ISBN 9780241983829