Selected Poems contains generous selections from Medbh McGuckian’s first five books which serve as an introduction to this gloriously gifted — and pioneering — poet, as a stock-taking moment to reconsider her luxuriant constructions, and as a welcome occasion to learn further how to receive the signals of her opulent imagination. The sensual, rhapsodic implications of her early work and the engagement of more recent poems with the politics of her native province represent a convincing vision.
Selected Poems marries intellectual and emotional courage with vital language, startling but appropriate image, and beguiling art.
‘These are, finally, extraordinary poems about everyday life. It is time more of us read them.’ — Stephen Burt, TLS
‘This selection has been beautifully chosen to introduce her to a new audience. Here are classically clear, startling lyrics with a buried wildness: poems to break your heart and save it. … Marvellous.’ — The Poetry Book Society
