Tag Archives: The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry

“Where am I coming from? Where am I going? A fusillade of question marks.” — Ciarán Carson

Posted on October 9, 2025 by sheila

It’s Ciarán Carson’s birthday today. He died in 2019. Paul Muldoon’s name invariably comes up when Carson is mentioned (post about Muldoon here). They share similarities (Northern Irish settings/concerns, long chatty lines, postmodern accumulation of detail, the use of humor, … Continue reading →

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The Books: The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry: Harry Clifton

Posted on December 13, 2010 by sheila

Daily Book Excerpt: Poetry Next book on the shelf is The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Peter Fallon & Derek Mahon. “His is a universe of aftermaths, hauntings and returns, in which even God . . . … Continue reading →

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The Books: The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry: Peter Fallon

Posted on December 8, 2010 by sheila

Daily Book Excerpt: Poetry Next book on the shelf is The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Peter Fallon & Derek Mahon. ‘The Gallery Press has spent the last twenty-five years contributing towards bringing Irish poets and writers … Continue reading →

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The Books: The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry: Michael Davitt

Posted on December 2, 2010 by sheila

Daily Book Excerpt: Poetry Next book on the shelf is The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Peter Fallon & Derek Mahon. Michael Davitt, a Cork man by birth, didn’t grow up speaking Irish at home. He learned … Continue reading →

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The Books: The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry: Richard Ryan

Posted on November 24, 2010 by sheila

Daily Book Excerpt: Poetry Next book on the shelf is The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Peter Fallon & Derek Mahon. “His poetry has technical sophistication and true feeling. It’s lucid and it has clarity and is … Continue reading →

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The Books: The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry: Derek Mahon

Posted on November 12, 2010 by sheila

Daily Book Excerpt: Poetry Next book on the shelf is The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Peter Fallon & Derek Mahon. “[Seamus] Heaney is a Wordsworth man and I’m a Coleridge man. I love the poetry, and … Continue reading →

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The Books: The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry: Mícheál Ó hAirtnéide (or Michael Hartnett)

Posted on November 10, 2010 by sheila

Daily Book Excerpt: Poetry Next book on the shelf is The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Peter Fallon & Derek Mahon. “I’ll never forget reading his first short poems in the early sixties; they had a kind … Continue reading →

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The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry: Irish poet Desmond O’Grady

Posted on November 2, 2010 by sheila

A Limerick man, born in 1935. When Desmond O’Grady died in 2014, Irish President Michael D. Higgins said, “From wherever he was writing, be it Cairo or Kinsale, his work invoked a sense of what was Irish in both heritage … Continue reading →

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The Books: The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry: Pearse Hutchinson

Posted on November 1, 2010 by sheila

Daily Book Excerpt: Poetry Next book on the shelf is The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Peter Fallon & Derek Mahon. Language. Pearse Hutchinson is obsessed with language. This doesn’t set him apart, I suppose, from other … Continue reading →

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The Books: The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry: Thomas Kinsella

Posted on October 29, 2010 by sheila

Daily Book Excerpt: Poetry Next book on the shelf is The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Peter Fallon & Derek Mahon. I am leaving Six Centuries of Great Poetry behind. If you’d like to see all the … Continue reading →

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