The Astrakhan Cloak, a collaboration between Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Paul Muldoon reveals an astonishing connection between two extraordinary talents.
‘These exuberant poems filter a modern suburban existence through the beguiling miasma of a more ancient Ireland . . . What Muldoon calls in one poem ‘the monsters of the imagination, the demons of the air’ dart through the book like sly witches on a wild night.
— Conor Kelly, The Sunday Tribune
‘The translations shed light on her work and add new dimensions and meanings to many of the poems. It will undoubtedly make her beautiful, lyrical poetry accessible to a greater number of people and it’s a collaboration that much be welcomed by all readers.’ — The Irish Times
‘Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill’s The Astrakhan Cloak consists of untranslated poems from her Irish-language collection Feis(1991). Paul Muldoon as translator is a welcome choice, judging by Pharaoh’s Daughter (1990). He bravely edits the originals, allowing himself the freedom to make good versions in English. The collection deals with love, war, nature, death, the other world, motherhood, depression, nationalism, growing pains, and biting your sean nós to spite your face — the ascendancy of narrative tradition over rationalist empiricism as an aid to the imagination. A major theme is immram or voyage, each marking a departure or loss . . . The two poets are at their best, making The Astrakhan Cloak a landmark in Irish literature and the acquisition of Irish essential for those who want to keep up. — FrankSewell, Fortnight