Michael Longley

Publication day for ANGEL HILL by Michael Longley

Cataract

My eyeball’s frozen. I lie
At the bottom of a well.
Leaves decorate the ice.

Holiday Sale: 40% off

This year, we’re especially grateful for the world’s poets—their words reveal the nuances in life’s complexity and help us find meaning in uncertain times. In that spirit, we are once again running our annual holiday sale. We hope you’ll consider poetry a particularly appropriate gift this year, for others or for yourself. Over the past few weeks, we’ve received many…

Poem of the Week: “The Trees” by Michael Longley

In honor of Michael Longley’s receipt of the 2015 International Griffin Poetry Prize yesterday, we bring you one of the poems he read in Toronto at the awards presentation. Many congratulations to Mr. Longley for this achievement!

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…

Poem of the Week: “Christmas Tree”

Christmas Tree for Jacob You are my second grandson, Christmas-born. I put on specs to read your face. Whispering Sweet nothings to your glistening eyelids, Am I outspoken compared with you? You sleep While I carry you to our elderly beech. Your forefinger twitches inside its mitten. Do you feel at home in my aching…

It’s publication day for The Stairwell

We are delighted to announce that The Stairwell by Michael Longley is now available on our website! For the Poem of the Week, we offer here the title poem.   The Stairwell  For Lucy McDiarmid I have been thinking about the music for my funeral— Liszt’s transcription of that Schumann song, for instance, ‘Dedication’ — inwardness meets the…

The Stairwell cover release

We are delighted to share a teaser image of the cover from our upcoming release, Michael Longley’s tenth collection, The Stairwell. The cover’s aesthetic evokes a Greek vase, featuring an earthy color scheme, scroll work and, most prominently, an illustration by the poet’s daughter, Sarah Longley.  The illustration is a copy of a similar image from…

The “perfect acoustic” of The Stairwell

Few moments are more exciting at the Press than when we are getting started on a new book. This fall, we’ll publish Michael Longley’s tenth collection, The Stairwell, and preparations are well underway. We’ve done a first read, gathered the cover image and copy, and sent files off to the designer. The title of the book comes from the…

“How do you sew the night?”: A poem in memory of Maya Angelou

We at Wake Forest University Press join the rest of the university, and the rest of the world, in celebrating Maya Angelou’s  life and mourning her passing. In her memory, here is a poem that WFUP poet Michael Longley wrote a few years ago after seeing Shaker-designed quilts in New England.          …

Innocence Lost: “Boy-Soldier” by Michael Longley

“Child Soldier in the Ivory Coast, Africa” by Gilbert Ground Michael Longley’s recent poem, “Boy-Soldier”, was inspired by Irish author Tom McAlindon’s account of the death of WWI teenage soldier, Bobbie Kernaghan of Belfast. The images of young soldiers killed in war, of their tender necks pierced and their armor clattering to the ground link this…

‘Tis the season for Poetry Readings

Everyone knows that poetry is best when listened to, so kick back, relax and belatedly celebrate National Poetry Day with some readings from our poets. Conor O’Callaghan reading “January Drought” from his newest collection, The Sun King. WFUP will publish the North American edition in December. Conor will be reading from The Sun King at the…

Michael Longley to Read at Cúirt International Festival of Literature

WFUP’s esteemed poet, Michael Longley, will be reading selections of his work on the opening night of the Cúirt International Festival of Literature.   Longley’s most recent publication A Hundred Doors won the 2011 Irish Times Poetry Now Award, and he is also the recipient of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, the Hawthornden Prize and the T.S. Eliot Prize,…

Interns' 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 Michael…

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…

My Literary Shelter

Walking to work today in the pouring rain, I saw the Press for what it represents in my life: a shelter. Running inside soaked and mentally exhausted from a day of classes, I was happy to be in a room where the AC isn’t cranked too high and the assignments aren’t too debilitating. The homeliness of the Press…

A WFU Easter

My first Easter away from home. My pink basket and plastic grass have been replaced with a cardboard box and styrofoam peanuts. Instead of a family mass I will be attending a friend mass. And Easter ham will probably be replaced by Pit pizza. But not everything has to change! I can still have an Easter…

Imagination Exercises

I’ve been bitten by the travel bug. As this semester comes to an end, not only is everyone scrambling to finish that last paper or project, but everyone is also making plans for next semester, like class registration, housing, etc. As conversations about these things become more frequent, many of my upper-classmen friends cannot help…

the guardian, michael longley and candide jones

having studied abroad in london during the fall semester, i came to interpret everything the guardian publishes as the gospel truth. so naturally, when the guardian publishes a review of michael longley’s “a hundred doors,” i think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. to be fair, i decided to go to candide. she knows the critical world of…

A Hundred Doors

Michael Longley’s new book A Hundred Doors is already getting rave reviews! Check out this great article in The Guardian about his latest book. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/20/a-hundred-doors-michael-longley-review And here’s a sneak peak at one of the poems: A Hundred Doors God! I’m lighting candles again, still the sentimental atheist, family Names a kind of prayer or poem, my…