Harry Clifton
The Poet and “Protection of Innocence”: An Interview with Harry Clifton
To celebrate the release of Herod’s Dispensations, WFU Press interviewed poet Harry Clifton about the creation of his newest collection. Herod’s Dispensations unites a variety of themes and places, with Clifton drawing inspiration from experiences both in Ireland and China. Here, he discusses the evolution of the collection from its original focus on “art, children and death,” and touches on the elements that bring these poems together.
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Horace” by Harry Clifton
Sick of that bloody poet, everywhere
Smart casual, urbane and circumspect,
Choosing his words with a little too much care
To be real anymore…
Poem of the Week: “The Ice Wager” by Harry Clifton
Snowscape. Shod in tailor’s irons,
Red-hot, with my poundage of weights,
I test the ice of our latest year.
Introducing: Herod’s Dispensations by Harry Clifton, coming spring 2019
WFU Press is proud to announce the publication of Harry Clifton’s newest collection of poetry, Herod’s Dispensations. This collection, which meditates on the loss and protection of innocence, encompasses journeys from Dublin through northern China.
Continue Reading“Malingering at the Heart of Things”: Review of Harry Clifton’s Portobello Sonnets
Benjamin Keatinge recently reviewed Portobello Sonnets by Harry Clifton in Breac, opening with “Ten rules for the returning emigrant” outlined by Michael O’Loughlin in a recent Irish Times article: “Rule number 1 reads, ‘Don’t come back,’ while rule number 10 reads, ‘Above all: don’t come back.’ As O’Loughlin reminds us, the treatment of returning Irish emigrants is one…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: A Sonnet by Harry Clifton
This week we celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, a holiday that originally commemorated the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, though is now more commonly a celebration of Irish heritage, especially in the US. Harry Clifton’s latest collection, Portobello Sonnets, is a fitting selection to mark this holiday, as it is a meditation on Dublin as a microcosm of the…
Continue ReadingAn interview with Harry Clifton: Returning to Portobello “was like rebuilding an identity from the ground up”
Harry Clifton has lived in places throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia, but his newest volume, Portobello Sonnets, focuses back on the district in Dublin where he currently lives, having returned after sixteen years in continental Europe. In this interview, he talks about how his work has evolved over time and place, and what ultimately brought him home. WFU Press:…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: Sonnet 33 by Harry Clifton
Water is there to be looked at, not looked into —
Stay on the surface, where the dragonflies mate,
The girls return your glance, and the weather is great,
Poem of the Week: “October” by Harry Clifton
“The big news around here is the fall of leaves
In Harrington Street and Synge Street,
Lying about in pockets, adrift at your feet . . .”
Poem of the Week: “…the rest will take care of itself.”
The River When I was angry, I went to the river– New water on old stones, the patience of pools. Let the will find its own pace Said a voice inside me I was learning to believe, And the rest will take care of itself. The fish were facing upstream, tiny trout Suspended like souls,…
Continue ReadingHold On! The Holding Centre is here!
Harry Clifton’s newest volume, The Holding Centre: Selected Poems 1974-2004, has arrived! This book presents a thirty-year poetic trajectory for Clifton, a writer who has lived and worked between the secular and the religious, Eros and history, Ireland and elsewhere. Get your copy now! … You are not the first, you will not…
Continue ReadingBEST OF 2013: WFU Press Style
It’s that time of year again. Christmas trees are going up, people are frantically searching for just the right present, holiday plans are being made and, of course, The Best Of lists are being released all month. Maybe you watched that video about the best of Youtube in 2013 or heard Miley Cyrus was named…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “The Lap of Plenty” by Harry Clifton
This week’s Poem of the Week comes from Harry Clifton’s upcoming collection, The Holding Centre. Available in December, The Holding Centre features a fantastic selection of Clifton’s previously published work, but also includes a section with new, unpublished poems. As a sneak peek, this week we give you “The Lap of Plenty.” THE LAP OF PLENTY Leave…
Continue ReadingEndings and Beginnings
This past week, Harry Clifton gave his final lecture as Ireland Professor of Poetry, marking the end of his three year appointment to the post. Soon, Clifton will step down to make way for the newly-announced Paula Meehan, who will be the sixth poet to take the position. Clifton spent one year at Queen’s University…
Continue ReadingFingers Crossed for Harry Clifton!
We’re delighted that Harry Clifton has been nominated for the Irish Times Poetry Now Award for 2013. Clifton is nominated for The Winter Sleep of Captain Lemass; he previously won this most prestigious award in 2008 for Secular Eden. Winners will be announced on Sept 7. Stay tuned for the results! –Megan Latta
Continue ReadingThe Poetry Project
Harry Clifton’s poem “Picardy” was highlighted in the latest piece for The Poetry Project. Take a few moments to just breath and enjoy a mental health break with this combination of poetry and natural imagery: David Farrell and Harry Clifton, “Picardy” . “Picardy” is from Clifton’s volume Secular Eden, winner of the 2008 Irish Times Poetry Now…
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 ReadingInterns’ Corner: So Many New Reviews!!
Here at the press, we’re really ecstatic about the multitude of reviews our poets have been featured in recently. As if Harry Clifton’s review of last week’s featured poet, Thomas Kinsella, wasn’t coincidental enough, this afternoon, we received our issue Boston College’s Irish Literary Supplement and found a few more surprises. Not only did the supplement include a new review of…
Continue ReadingA Lil’ Bit of Lit Crit.: Harry Clifton on Thomas Kinsella
This weekend, some of you may have seen that our very own Harry Clifton wrote a review on yet another one of our poets, Thomas Kinsella, for this Saturday’s Irish Times! In the review, Clifton writes that in the later work of poets, “we find a flattening out of the poetic line, a casualness that can…
Continue ReadingHarry Clifton: An Irishman Abroad
Though poet Harry Clifton is a native Dubliner and currently lives in Ireland, he has spent much of his adult life on the move. Clifton grew up in Ireland and attended University College Dublin, but left the country when he was twenty-five to teach at a teacher training college in Post-Civil War Nigeria. From there…
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 ReadingPoem of the Week: “Pipistrelle” by Harry Clifton
Pipistrelle At no point, in the whole of that northern night, Was there total eclipse of light, Only a yellow streak, low down in the sky Against which little squeaks, subliminal cries Would dash themselves, so to speak— The pipistrelles. Hours later, dawn would break To the sound of illegitimate shots In the field nearby….
Continue ReadingLittle Change, Big Change
Proofing for Harry Clifton we slowly realized that somewhere between the original hard copy and the more recent copy he sent us, a few changes had been made. Some of these changes are minimal: a new comma, or a period replaced by an ellipse. But other changes are significant enough to alter the meaning of…
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