Vona Groarke

Poem of the Week: “Other People’s Lives” by Vona Groarke

That letter you promised me writes itself
in a sheaf of streets with their bar hubbub:
bottles poured onto a midden in a lane, the odd jazz riff,
a clasp of laughter, some half-shouted name.

Poem of the Week: “Six Months” by Vona Groarke

APRIL

My daughter buys
her first perfume.
It’s called ‘One Summer’.

Poem of the Week: “Tonight of Yesterday” by Vona Groarke

Tonight of Yesterday             for Eve The evening slips you into it, has kept a place for you and those wildwood limbs that have already settled on the morning. The words you have for it are flyblown now as the dandelion you’ll whistle tomorrow into a lighter air. But, tonight, your sleep will be as…

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: “Nouns and Verbs”

One thing we love here at the Press is words—both in Irish and English. Vona Groarke’s “Nouns and Verbs” celebrates the love of choosing just the right word.

Irish poets in New York City this weekend for 6th Annual PoetryFest

This coming weekend in New York City will be an exciting one for the poetry community. The 6th Annual PoetryFest (November 7–9), is a three-day celebration of contemporary Irish and American poetry, featuring lectures, readings and more. Over the course of the weekend, ten poets will be featured, including Vona Groarke, Peter Fallon and Rita…

Poem of the Week: “Pier” by Vona Groarke

Only a few weeks remain before students return to campus, and our hottest days seem to be behind us. As we desperately hang on to summer, we offer Vona Groarke’s poem, “Pier,” as a celebration of the freedom and elan that summertime allows. Pier Speak to our muscles of a need for joy.      …

Poem of the Week: “Away” by Vona Groarke

Away We have our own smallholding: persimmon tree, crawl space, stoop, red earth basement, ceiling fans, a job. Hours I’m not sure where I am, flitting through every amber between Gales and Drumcliffe Road. I paint woodwork the exact azure of a wave’s flipside out the back of Spiddal pier and any given morning pins…

The End of the Line

The temperature is high, the pollen is present, and graduation is just around the corner. However, with the arrival of springtime blossoms comes the departure of most of our staff. Interns Nicole, Maura, Amanda, Julie and Mike are all graduating, and Candide is retiring from Assistant Director. And while I feel inclined to use the…

BEST 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…

Poem of the Week: “Away” by Vona Groarke

Though the majority of the Irish poetry we publish is actually about Ireland, we are not without some poems that feature our own backyard. This week’s Poem of the Week is set in North Carolina. Vona Groarke, in her acclaimed collection Spindrift, wrote of the time she spent as Poet-in-Residence here at Wake Forest University. This…

Vona Groarke in The New Yorker

Landscape – Kongevejen near Gentofte by Vilhelm Hammershøi The November 11 issue of The New Yorker features Vona Groarke’s poem “The Landscapes of Vilhelm Hammershøi.” Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916) was a Danish painter best known for his low-key, soft portraits and interiors. Enigmatic and secretive, his paintings were described as “highly traditional, but also distinctively modern”…

‘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. Ciaran Carson reading “Snow” from Belfast Confetti Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin reads from The Sun-Fish Paula Meehan reads her poem “Death of a Field” from Painting Rain Michael Longley reads “Harmonica” from his Collected Poems Vona…

A 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…

Poem of the Week: “To Be Said” by Vona Groarke

To Be Said Let’s walk the shoreline with it all to be said and nothing between us but salt. Let the waves trip on the part of your name I don’t dare. Let the shingle cup your footfall and the sea-wind straddle the breath you don’t use. We’ll hold our tongues. Let you say nothing,…

Judging a Book by its Cover: Vona Groarke’s Spindrift

While an old adage suggests that you can’t judge a book by its cover, in the modern publishing world, that’s often all you have to go by. The ever-expanding digital marketplace uses cover art as an ambassador for the intangible, providing a thumbnail image of the physical book. Similarly, in old-fashioned bookstores, cover art is,…