Synopses & Reviews
In the mid-twentieth century, a new generation of poets writing in Irish emerged, led by the young Seán Ó Ríordáin, among others. Ó Ríordáin’s work has stood the test of time well, and he continues to engage today’s Irish readers and writers. This well-rounded selection of poems brings most of Ó Ríordáin’s works to English-language readers for the first time. The poems appear in their original Irish alongside English translations by some of Ireland's leading poets. Also included for the first time in English is Ó Ríordáin’s essay What Is Poetry?, considered an extraordinary touchstone of critical insight for poets and literary commentators.
The volume reflects Ó Ríordáin’s seven main concerns: poetry and its place in the artist’s life; the plural self; the relationship between the individual and society; gender relations; the nature of animals; Ireland, its language and culture; and mortality.
Review
“a significant voice in Irish writing”
- Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney
Review
“far and away the leading poet of the period”
- Declan Kiberd
Declan Kiberd
Review
“with Seán Ó Ríordáin one is aware of being at a frontier both of language and sensibility. The interaction of these has produced poems at times elusive and obscure but his extension of both language and sensibility marks one of the finer achievements in Irish writing over the past thirty years”
- Eoghan Ó hAnluain
Eoghan � hAnluain
Review
‘Yale and Frank Sewell have created a serious memorial to one survivor poet, a soul of unbridled imagination.—The Irish Examiner
Review
‘Selected Poems belatedly introduces to a wider audience one of the great modern European poets.’—David Wheatley, TLS
Review
'Many of Ó Ríordáin’s best-loved poems, and some lesser-known works, are given a jolt of newness in their unfamiliar cloak of English.'—Róisín Ní Ghairbhí,
The Irish TimesSynopsis
The first bilingual volume of poems by leading Irish twentieth-century poet Seán Ó Ríordáin
Synopsis
The first bilingual volume of poems by leading Irish twentieth-century poet Sean O Riordain
In the mid-twentieth century, a new generation of poets writing in Irish emerged, led by the young Sean O Riordain, among others. O Riordain's work has stood the test of time well, and he continues to engage today's Irish readers and writers. This well-rounded selection of poems brings most of O Riordain's works to English-language readers for the first time. The poems appear in their original Irish alongside English translations by some of Ireland's leading poets. Also included for the first time in English is O Riordain's essay What Is Poetry?, considered an extraordinary touchstone of critical insight for poets and literary commentators.
The volume reflects O Riordain's seven main concerns: poetry and its place in the artist's life; the plural self; the relationship between the individual and society; gender relations; the nature of animals; Ireland, its language and culture; and mortality.
Synopsis
The works of Ireland’s great mid-twentieth-century poet, widely admired in his native land, have until now remained unavailable in English. This welcome volume offers translations of a generous selection of Ó Ríordáin’s poems.
About the Author
Seán Ó Ríordáin (1916–1977) was born in County Cork and lived his life entirely in Ireland. He completed four volumes of poetry, the last - Tar Éis Mo Bháis - published posthumously. He also wrote powerful opinion pieces for the Irish Times during his later years. Frank Sewell is a poet, translator, critic, and academic. He is course director of English at the University of Ulster (Coleraine), where he teaches Irish literature and creative writing. His translations include the poems of Cathal Ó Searcaigh and Gearóid Mac Lochlainn. He lives in County Derry, Ireland.