John Montague

Poem of the Week: “The Sick Bird” by John Montague

The holidays, more than any other time of year, draw our cultural attention to family, rituals and the cyclical nature of life. This poem by John Montague appears in a group titled “Prayers for My Daughters” and focuses on generational knowledge. Though small, the moments that connect us to our past are valuable. Like the…

Christmas in Ireland: Five Things You May Not Know

1. One of the oldest Christmas carols, “The Wexford Carol,” is believed to have come from Ireland and dates all the way back to the 12th century. It originated in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, and tells the tale of the Nativity. This carol has been translated from Irish into English—you may recognize it from Julie Andrews’ 1966 Christmas album!

Poem of the Week: “To Cease” by John Montague

To cease
to be human.

To be
a rock down
which rain pours…

A Montague Retrospective

In 1975 Wake Forest University Press began its Irish poetry program by co-publishing John Montague’s A Slow Dance with the Dolmen Press. Montague was a foundational poet for WFU Press, and we were lucky to have worked with him for more than forty years. In honor of the posthumous publication of A Spell to Bless the Silence, we offer this retrospective look at Montague’s books published in North America by WFU Press.

New Selection of John Montague’s Poetry To Be Published this Fall

WFU Press is glad to announce the publication of a new selection of John Montague’s work. A Spell to Bless the Silence: Selected Poems includes work from fourteen volumes written over more than fifty years. Undertaken by Montague and his wife, Elizabeth Wassell, prior to the poet’s death in December 2016, this new selection represents “not only…

Poem of the Week: “Horizons” by John Montague

Photo by Niall Hartnett Today, on what would have been his 88th birthday, we celebrate one of our beloved poets, John Montague, who passed away this December. Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in County Tyrone, Ireland, Montague’s work is known for themes of adolescence, love, family, and personal connection with Irish history. WFU Press has…

John Montague, 1929–2016

It is with great sadness that Wake Forest University Press has learned of John Montague’s death.  We have been honored to be his publisher these many years. We will miss his poetry, his humor, and his humanity.

Poem of the Week: John Montague’s “At Last”

We are drawn to John Montague’s poem “At Last” for its tale of reunion and the sense of readjustment to what once was familiar, which the speaker suggests through the images of Ireland and the relationship between the father and son.

The secret is out… Announcing our latest book, The Shack.

Today’s the day! It’s finally here! We’ve been waiting so long to tell you about our newest book, The Shack: Irish Poets in the Foothills and Mountains of the Blue Ridge, that it’s hard to believe we can finally talk about it. In The Shack, contemporary Irish poets reflect on their time in the foothills and mountains…

A final song for Samhain

Halloween is finally here! While children dress in costume and parents don their houses with spooky decorations, we are paying tribute to John Montague and his eerie poem about the Celtic festival that celebrates the arrival of the “darker half” of the year. The auditory and sensory imagery Montague engages sends shivers down our spine, as we welcome…

Poem of the Week: “… a spell to bless the silence.”

John Montague’s most recent volume, Speech Lessons, is full of lyrical poems about childhood, memory, and family. Our selection for today stands out from this subject matter as a poem about poetry itself. 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…

Poem of the Week: “Starspill” by John Montague

There are few spectacles more enigmatic and awe-inspiring than the night sky. It can be hard to believe that the shimmering blots sprinkled into the abyss are light-years upon light-years out of our reach. John Montague’s poem “Starspill” captures the mystery of the glimmering cosmos drifting above our earth. Starspill That secret laughter which, on…

Poem of the Week: “Samhain” by John Montague

Samhain Sing a song for the mistress of the bones the player on the black keys the darker harmonies light jig of shoe buckles on a coffin lid         ∞ Harsh glint of the wrecker’s lantern on a jagged cliff across the ceaseless glitter of the spume: a seagull’s creak. The damp-haired…

Realizing a Destiny in Full: On the Death of a Friend

“When asked to pronounce on Seamus’s death, a phrase coalesced in my mind: he did his work.” This, according to poet John Montague in his Sept. 7 memorial in the Irish Times, is the most succinct way to describe the late Seamus Heaney. But his description, which seems so far removed from the beauty and…

“The Wild Dog Rose” – A Collaboration of Arts Nearly Fifty Years in the Making

In 1962, a group of Irish musicians formed a band called The Chieftains that would specialize in traditional music.  Now fifty years later, The Chieftains are a six-time Grammy award winning group that has popularized traditional Irish music around the world.  The band’s name came from the book Death of a Chieftain, written by our…

Reading Between the Pixels: What Cover Art Really Means

They say that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but in the case of poet John Montague’s new book Speech Lessons, the cover is quite revealing.  The image on the cover comes from a painting titled Adam and Eve by German painter Hans Baldung, the artist of the crucifixion painting upon which Montague meditates in…

Valentine’s Day

In honor of St. Valentine’s Day, we at WFU Press have selected three different poems that cover the different spectrums of that confusing but beautiful thing known as love. Michael Longley’s poem “The Scissors Ceremony” depicts the heartwarming image of an old couple that are still very much in love. In contrast, John Montague reminds…

Poem 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…

John 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…