Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Poetry”
Angela Graham considers progress in the last two years. In December 2020, in a blog I wrote for the Irish Literary Society, I asserted that in contemporary creative writing (that is, in the general run of mainstream publications) Ulster-Scots was all but invisible, A language without a lively, multi-genre, modern literary and cultural presence is one that is struggling. The …
A review by John O’Donoghue of Hand In Hand, Patricia McCarthy, Agenda Editions/London Magazine Editions £10 €12 $14, 96pp. The legend of Tristan and Iseult has long fascinated poets, writers, artists, and composers. From Wagner to Messiaen, from Daphne du Maurier to Rosemary Sutcliff, from Hollywood – Tony and Ridley Scott – to Bollywood – Subhash Ghai – the doomed …
We were saddened to hear of the death of the poet Niall McDevitt in September. Known to many of the Society’s followers as a bright presence and the poet in residence at the Hammersmith, Irish Cultural Centre. He was a multi-talented man, self-described as “poet-pyschogeographer, art-activist”. Any who took his animated, expansive and richly enjoyable literary walks will recall a …
By LYNDA O’KEEFFE My research on the life and works of John O’Keeffe began over eight years ago, it began after I delved into the never-ending realms of genealogy. My own children have continued a tradition of generations of my family treading the boards, I wanted to know just how far back tradition stretched. Finding John O’Keeffe was a thrill …
by BERNARD O’DONOGHUE 1986 was a dramatic year in the history of anthologies of Irish poetry in English. There were several well-regarded anthologies already, by Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson (Oxford), by Derek Mahon and Peter Fallon (Pan), by John Montague (Faber) and Brendan Kennelly (Penguin). But two of these four publishers produced new anthologies in 1986, each of them …
Presented below is the latest in the series of translations by ILS member Brian O’Connor of the great Irish poet of the late 17th and early 18th century, Aodhagán Ó Rathaille (c.1670–1726). O’Connor’s earlier translations for us from Ó Rathaille are also available on the ILS blog. Found in a 1725 manuscript, Gile na Gile (literally “Brightness of Brightness”) is one of …
The Wave of Toime is the latest in a series of translations for the ILS by Brian O’Connor of the great Irish poet of the late 17th and early 18th century, Aodhagán Ó Rathaille (c.1670–1726). ‘Tonn Toime’ describes the disturbed sleep of the poet and his appeal to the chieftains of the past for respite and a return to the …
By CAHAL DALLAT Opening a Can of Worms “Why would London want to honour Ireland’s national poet?” is the question, asked in a range of tones and phrasings. The starting point’s that it clearly does, as half our WB Yeats Bedford Park Artwork Project backers on the crowdfund page (where you can read more on Londoner Conrad Shawcross RA’s Yeats-inspired …
My work, both prose and poetry, is interested in how we occupy space. This poem looks back to the early days of the pandemic in the run up to Easter. I was fascinated by how we delineated space. The simple act of walking seemed to become formalised, even performative as we traversed the park, giving way to each other. The …
