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Conor O’Callaghan
Poet Conor O’Callaghan may best be known to fans of Wake Forest Press for his books of poetry such as Fiction and Seatown and Earlier Poems. He will also be editing our Wake Forest Series of Irish Poetry, Volume III, which will be released next year. However, did you know that he also wrote a memoir about the Roy…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Silences” by John Montague
This poem is from John Montague’s latest volume, due out in mid-April. It’s dedicated to his wife. Enjoy! Silences for Elizabeth 1 Poetry is a weapon, and should be used, though not in the crudity of violence. It is a prayer before an unknown altar, a spell to bless the silence. 2 There is a…
Continue ReadingA Lil Bit of Lit Crit: “The Copious Dark” by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin
In his November 2010 review of Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin’s The Sun-fish, William Logan of The New Criterion commented that “Ní Chuilleanáin loves this stillness, the timelessness of Ireland both passing and passed—stately, measured, the poems unfold in their own time, making very little concession to the reader. They’re full of material things, things with density…
Continue ReadingArts and Culture: O’Reilly Broadside
It’s easy to quickly glance at the image associated with Caitríona O’ Reilly’s poem “Octopus” and see the connection; the image is a direct representation of the title. It all seems pretty standard. However, as I delve deeper into the poem, I find that the illustrated octopus is not only strikingly apt, but is responsible…
Continue ReadingPaula Meehan: Rebel with a Cause
Paula Meehan, born in Dublin in 1955, spent much of her childhood in England before finishing her primary school education at Dublin’s Central Model Girls’ School in Gardiner Street. She began her secondary school education at St. Michael’s Holy Faith Covent in Finglas, but her time there was short lived. Meehan was expelled from the…
Continue ReadingWhat Does This Mean for Writing?
This week at the Press, we’ve all been reading Alexandra Alter’s recent article in The Wall Street Journal on Penguin’s upcoming publication, Chopsticks, which is an enhanced e-book that combines literature with digital photo albums, video clips, and audio clips. Towards the end of the article, Alter shares an interesting quote from the book’s author, Jessica Anthony, on “the future of narrative”…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Studying the Language” by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin
Studying the Language On Sundays I watch the hermits coming out of their holes Into the light. Their cliff is as full as a hive. They crowd together on warm shoulders of rock Where the sun has been shining, their joints crackle. They begin to talk after a while. I listen to their accents, they…
Continue ReadingTravel
Lara Marlowe, author and Washington correspondent to The Irish Times, stated in an interview with the Irish Echo that you’re Irish if “you delight in language, enjoy good company and never lose touch with the sadness that runs through all things.” Although Marlowe is American, she maintains a residence in Ireland and is a world-traveled journalist. In the interview, Marlowe…
Continue ReadingPraise for Michael Longley
Recently, The Boston Globe named Michael Longley’s A Hundred Doors as one of the best poetry books of 2011. “This year Wake Forest University Press has delivered A Hundred Doors by Irish poet Michael Longley, who has yet to receive the American acclaim surrounding many of his contemporaries. In this collection, readers are transported to…
Continue ReadingJohn Montague receives honorary doctorate from University College Dublin
John Montague was one of five holders of the Ireland Chair of Poetry to receive an honorary doctorate from University College Dublin on Bloomsday. Brian Donnelly, of the UCD School of English, Drama & Film, spoke of how Montague’s poetry reflects the passion and determination of the Irish. “… It has been his vocation to…
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