While waiting for my Pascale Pettit books to arrive, I've got this lovely book to read: The Wake Forest Book of Irish Women's Poety, 1967-2000. I found a copy of it in the library at DKIT, Dundalk Institute of Technology, last week, when I was up there on other business. I came home and sourced a copy of it online, because books like this you really want to own.
On the day I opened it randomly in Medbh McGuckian's section and ended up spending a good half hour lost in her work. The more I read her poetry the more I want to read it. It doesn't offer its meaning up easily but still I find that I do understand it inherently.
Her work is widely read and enjoyed by 'Merkans. I know of one young man, a student from Harvard (well now he's finished there and is going to Notre Dame to do a doctorate), who specifically made a point of going to Queen's to do an exchange semester there so that he could attend her poetry workshops. That's a small example of her weight in poetry terms.
Anyway, I will enjoy it, especially as a counter to the lovely Penguin anthology of Irish Poetry (1990) that my sister found in a second hand bookshop. In which there were very few women poets.
3 comments:
Good to know about this book, Barbara, another one to scour bookshops for.
And Medbh McGuckian - had a one day workshop with her once, she is amusing! I enjoy her work, especially her earlier stuff - great images and odd connections...and yes, she does need dwelling on a bit but it's worth it. : )
I know jusat what you mean about Medbh's work - I have one of her books and re-visit it every so often - I like her writing very much but i cannot say why! as like you I find the meanings hard to fathom ... Maybe it's her way with language.
Interesting there were not many women poets in that anthology. It can't be there weren't many, surely!
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