Blog
Poetry Magazine Honors Dennis O’Driscoll
The February issue of Poetry magazine, commemorates Dennis O’Driscoll, who passed away in December. The inside cover features the first stanza of his poem “Tomorrow.” Tomorrow Tomorrow I will start to be happy. The morning will light up like a celebratory cigar. Sunbeams sprawling on the lawn will set dew sparkling like a cut-glass tumbler of…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Again” by Kerry Hardie
This poem by Kerry Hardie is from The Wake Forest Book of Irish Women’s Poetry. The best part of winter is knowing that spring must come “again,” and the bad weather and cold temperatures must come to an end. Today on March 1st, we say, “Here’s to Spring!” Again Spring comes roundly, as the round calls…
Continue ReadingA Lil Bit of Lit Crit: Richard Murphy
In an issue of the Harvard Review, critic Floyd Skloot wrote about poet Richard Murphy and how his poems at his mid-career are consistently among his best.
Continue ReadingIt Runs In the Family
It’s rare enough to have one famous artist in the family, rarer still to have two. The parents of Thomas and John Kinsella – lauded Irish poet and composer, respectively – must have been doing something right. The Kinsella boys, who grew up in the Dublin suburb of Inchicore to a family employed in the…
Continue ReadingIt’s Poetry Month!
April is the month to celebrate poetry! And while we here at the Press rejoice it every day, we encourage our readers to take part with us in the celebration of National Poetry Month, established in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets. Now is the time to start that spring cleaning by dusting off…
Continue ReadingOnce a Student, Always a Student: Medbh McGuckian’s Love of Learning
Our poet Medbh McGuckian was born Maeve McCaughan in Belfast in 1950, the third of six children. McGuckian attributes her mother, whom she describes as very artistic, for sparking her initial interest in poetry. McGuckian began writing poetry as a child and continued through her adolescence, eventually enrolling at Queens University, Belfast to study English….
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Spells for the Embalmers” by Medbh McGuckian
Spells for the Embalmers I believe that you left the heart in place, fringed with locks of gold wire. That the blue tissue of the hands was separately wrapped in beaded net. That the unprepared harmony of palm wine and cedar oil pealed at the same moment. And a flimsy, waxed sail that grew more…
Continue ReadingA Lil’ Bit of Lit. Crit.: The Vocal Landscapes of Vona Groarke
In the Spring 2010 issue of Poetry London, W.N. Herbert of Newcastle University wrote an article on “Approaching Simplicity” in which he compares the works of poets Billy Collins and Don Paterson to our very own Vona Groarke. Looking at Groarke’s most recent publication with the Press, Spindrift, Herbert writes: Vona Groarke’s work finds itself…
Continue ReadingBut who is Captain Lemass?
Currently at the press, we are looking forward to releasing Harry Clifton’s new book The Winter Sleep of Captain Lemass. When first hearing this title, the name Captain Lemass seems so lyrical that many assume it must be a fictional name. However, some researched revealed that Clifton is actually referring to Captain Noel Lemass, the…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Ceist na Teangan / The Language Issue” by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill
This week has been a pretty exciting one for everyone involved in publishing and literary studies here at Wake Forest. After two years of planning, the University is finally hosting its “Words Awake!” celebration of Wake Forest writers! The three day event will focus on recognizing the achievements of Wake Forest writers past and present while also…
Continue Reading