Collected Poems by Gerard Fanning: Elliptical, at times cryptic works built on mood and atmosphere
Early on, one feels the need to ask for a primer for some of Fanning’s enigmas but later he seems to relax into a more open, approachable clarity
Poetry
New poetry: Frank McGuinness, Erica McAlpine, James Harpur and Dane Holt
Reviews of The River Crana; Small Pointed Things; The Magic Theatre; and Father’s Father’s Father
Paul Durcan: ‘Poetry was a gift that he loved to give others’
Kathleen MacMahon, Conor O’Callaghan, Bernard MacLaverty, Enda Wyley, William Wall, Aifric McGlinchey and Martin Doyle pay tribute
Bodily takeover: New poetry from Gwyneth Lewis, Jennifer Horgan, Dedalus Introductions and Peter McDonald
Reviews of First Rain in Paradise; Beginnings Over and Over; Care; and One Little Room
Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt: a portrait of the sensualist as a young man
The poet’s first novel documents the totalising force of youthful infatuation with fidelity and tenderness
New poetry: works by Ange Mlinko, Traveller poets, Jo Burns and Emily Cooper, and Jake Hawkey
Foxglovewise; Kin: An anthology of Poetry, story and art by Women from Romani, Traveller and Nomadic Communities; The Conversation; and But/Through
Moth Poetry Prize shortlist revealed
Prize worth €11,000 to the winners shines a light on poems from several continents
Valentine’s Day love letters: poems to celebrate the love of your life
Dive into this collection of verse that captures the passion of affection
New poetry: The Keelie Hawk, poems written entirely in Scots, will delight and puzzle
Reviews of collections by Kathleen Jamie, Claudine Toutoungi, Pat Boran and Gustav Parker Hibbett
‘Conflict, religion and poetry are the three energies that I hold together, and they’re all about language’
The man behind the immensely popular Poetry Unbound podcast discusses the two books he’s publishing this year, early objections to Patrick Kavanagh, and the vitalness of surprise
Michael Longley funeral: Poets and politicians gather for writer who ‘touched the soul and imagination of many’
Michael D Higgins joined Theo Dorgan, Frank Ormsby, Medbh McGuckian and others at ceremony
Poem of the Week: The Place Where Poems Come From
Patricia McCarthy’s elegy for the late poet, Michael Longley
Poem of the Week: my mother, wearing a pencil skirt, in a meadow
A new work by Liz McSkeane, winner of the Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year for her poetry and founder and director of Turas Press
Award-winning poet Michael Longley dies aged 85
Michael Longley, from Belfast, received several awards for his 13 collections, including the Feltrinelli Prize
Delicate task of returning lantern that lit Yeats’s way up ‘the winding stair’ from the US to its Galway home
A stained glass lantern owned by WB Yeats which wound its way across the Atlantic has been lovingly brought back to Ireland after almost 100 years
Indeterminate Inflorescence by Lee Seong-bok: The record of a craftsman trying to understand their art in real time
‘A poem is a coherent rambling. If there is only coherence or only rambling, poetry disappears’
Kevin Power: Literary magazines are all the more vital for operating off the commercial grid
This rich universe of words includes The Stinging Fly, Banshee, Ragaire, Splonk, Sonder, The Four-Faced Liar, The Pig’s Back, Profiles and Southword
New poetry: Works by Niall Campbell, Elisa Gonzalez, John McAuliffe and John Fitzgerald
Reviews: The Island in the Sound; Grand Tour; National Theatre; and Long Distance
Kevin Power: I took a deep dive into Irish literary magazines and would do it again without hesitation
Between Holy Show, Dublin Review of Books, Tolka and the Dublin Review, I had a high stack on my desk
John Montague: A Poet’s Life by Adrian Frazier: ‘ruthless intimacy’
Adrian Frazier’s no-holds-barred biography of the American-born Irish poet acknowledges the cost of a life turned ‘into the achievement of poetry’
Derek Mahon: A Retrospective - A collection of essays that bring the poetry alive
The poet was always good, and the more Mahon the better, but it’s possible the best came first
Poem of the Week: Gó gan Ghá/Unnecessary Lie
A new work by Aifric Mac Aodha, translated by David Wheatley
New poetry: Drypoint; The Shark Nursery; Veld Fires; Goodlord
Vona Groarke reviews new work by Jamie McKendrick; Mary O’Malley; Joseph Woods; Ella Frears
David Marcus: Editing Ireland, edited by Paul Delaney and Deirdre Madden: Rich miscellany of poems, stories and reminiscences
This centenary compilation pays tribute to the pre-eminent editor’s mission to enhance and uphold Ireland’s literary culture
New poetry: Recounting traumatic personal pasts, Kelly Michels and David McLoghlin speak for traumatised societies
Reviews of Geraldine Mitchell’s Naming Love; Kelly Michels’s American Anthem; David McLoghlin’s Crash Centre; and John Mee’s The Blue in the Blue Marble
Fred Johnston obituary: Poet who helped found Cúirt literary festival
In 1978, Johnston went to Galway on a two-week creative writers’ workshop. He never left
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
Family NoticesOpens in new window
Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices