Salmon Poetry does not disappoint for the lovers of lyrical poetics with an edge. How very cool to see form being played with and the linguistics hidden then polished as if a neat play with hope and darkness. I wonder if Alvy Carragher writes in a way so as to ask us to walk with her – as I went on a journey with these poems.
Ireland is the home of lyrical poetry and it is thrilling to see the visual aspects of form being toyed with, odd formatting, right alignment, and some nihilistic poems too.
Even the concept of the collection is utterly inviting:
“A young woman wakes feeling raw and tender after a one-night stand. She leaves a strange man sleeping in her bed and goes running. Marked by the anxiety of living in a city that does not feel like home, she must face the memories and men kept under her bed.”
Through her way with imagery and pace we move beyond concepts and scenes and the male gaze and are put side-by-side as women living through running words.
Buy the book here
ALVY CARRAGHER is an Irish poet and writer based in
Toronto. She has published two books. Her first collection of
poetry Falling in love with broken things was published in 2016 by
Salmon Poetry and her children’s novel The Cantankerous Molly
Darling was published in 2019. She received first-class honours
in her MA of Writing from the National University of Ireland,
Galway. As a performance poet, she featured at events like
Electric Picnic, Edinburgh Fringe Fest, RTE’s Arena and the
Cúirt International Literary Festival. She represented Poetry
Ireland at a reading in the Lincoln Center, New York as part of
the Poetry Ireland Introduction Series in 2016. You can find out
more about her work at http://www.alvycarragher.com
Beir Bua Press 