Celebrated for his politically engaged and lyrically powerful work, Macdara Woods presents a comprehensive collection spanning from his 1970 debut to more recent poems. This anthology not only includes selections from his various collections but also features new and previously uncollected pieces. Woods' adventurous approach to form and theme enriches contemporary Irish poetry, earning him acclaim as a significant voice in the literary landscape, noted for his humanity and engaging style.
In this 11th collection of his poetry, Irish poet Macdara Woods brings his hallmark qualities of energy and alertness to the subject of memory, its revelations, transports and deceptions. The Cotard Dimension unflinchingly faces "the distorting glass / In the bathroom mirror" and discovers that "memory is where I am / One-fingered memory / Poking round among the ruins". And yet, in poems that deal with the slow recovery after an accident, he records the renewal of "the wild olive that we thought was dead", and produces a volume of poetry that, despite our troubled times, celebrates "fresh growth new bone".
Music From The Big Tent is Macdara Woods' first volume of new poems since Collected Poems (2012) From the opening poem in which a bird falls dead at the feet of the strolling poet and his son, to the closing which references the well-known song 'The Night Before Larry Was Stretched', in this latest collection of his poems Macdara Woods looks, with un inching eye, beyond the certainties and consolations of the here and now. In a book which charts his own recent ill health and recovery, he celebrates "the courage and / The wonder / Of the naked body," not least at a time "when the nanciers / have poisoned all the blood banks / and the drug companies / have rendered us venomous." Though his subjects may be illness, frailty and dissolution, the insistence on witness and clear-eyed expression animates these poems with a de ant and by times almost exhuberant energy. Poems such as 'Big- Top Music' and 'A May-Day Aisling Skazka' ("Here's where the rhythm in the rhyme / Turns slower (as will yours in time)" tap in to a long tradition of playful music imparting dark visions, and add a new and captivating dimension to Woods' ongoing dance in words and 'In the open space between / The words."
This collection showcases the work of Irish poet Macdara Woods, featuring both new and selected poems that reflect his unique voice and perspective. Originally published in 2000, it highlights themes of identity, memory, and the complexities of human experience through evocative language and imagery. The reissue allows readers to rediscover Woods' contributions to contemporary poetry, emphasizing his profound insights and lyrical style.
One of the most individual voices in Irish poetry todaySelected Poems contains all of the poems Woods wanted published at this stage, gathered from his previous five collections, from 1970-1994."It occurs to me that a life given to poetry is the true proving of the saw about persisting in folly to become wise". -- From the author's foreword
