Cathal Ó Searcaigh
The Green Man
ISBN:
9781851321216 paperback
9781851321223 limited edition
Ó Searcaigh mixes the open-singing eroticism of Whitman with a sharp eye for the profound minutiae of the physical world, and he often adds a surprising touch of irony to the blend. It’s the rare poet who can imagine sheep as paperweights who keep the fields from blowing away.
Billy Collins
Poet Laureate of the United States, 2001–2003
Cavafy knew well that his poems would not be acceptable to his contemporaries; but he was prepared to pay the price and carried on. How gratifying, then, for admirers of the homoerotic tradition in poetry and in art generally, to see that the tide is finally turning – and for those of us who take an interest in Irish, to see also the international setting that the language has found for itself in Cathal Ó Searcaigh’s most recent work.
Eoghan Mac Aogáin
One of the major poets of modern Ireland, Cathal Ó Searcaigh has made a huge contribution to the range and scope of Irish language literature over the past four decades. This volume, drawn from six ground-breaking collections published over the past fifteen years, testifies to his lyrical genius and his enduring importance at the very heart of what is happening in Gaelic literature today. Here, Paddy Bushe, Gabriel Rosenstock and Frank Sewell, three of the most noted translators of contemporary Irish language literature, use the full range of their brilliance to render Ó Searcaigh’s work into faithful but fully realized English language poems.
Tá Cathal Ó Searcaigh in ard a chumais, é éirithe ó thalamh as an duibheagán. Is aoibhinn liom na bundánta, an charthain iontu a mheall riamh sinn chun nádúir na Gaeltachta.
Liam Ó Muirthile
Tá Cathal Ó Searcaigh ar an bhfile is binne agus is milse béil in Éirinn. Bhí tuiscint riamh ann gur cheart don fhilíocht freastal ar an áilleacht agus ar an iontas, agus sin é a dhéanann sé siar amach. Laoithe cumainn d’eacstais an tsaoil is ea an chuid is fearr dá shaothar agus tugann sé cuireadh isteach dúinn do charnabhal na beatha. Is é atá torrach le haoibhneas is cuma an ag trácht ar a óige féin, ar a cheantar dúchais, nó ar an ngrá corpartha is spioradálta atá sé, agus tá chomh snoite líofa ina chuid dánta fada agus atá sna liricí snasta a bhfuil sé ina mháistir orthu. Ócáid ghairdeachais foilsiú gach leabhair uaidh.
Alan Titley
Ó Searcaigh celebrates the simple joys of nature and of place in a style full of classical serenity and meditative calm. The poet reinvents the self and the word in these intimate, compassionate, visionary, musical, obliquely political poems, rich in colourful visuals and teeming with positive energy.
- Satchidanandan
In Cathal Ó Searcaigh’s poetry, the unexpected rises to the surface like foam formed under a waterfall during the spring thaw. His poetry is both startling and refreshing.
Bill Wolak