Between the Circus and the Sewer. New Dublin Writers

"These new Dublin writers have produced a varied and many-faceted collection of prose and poems. Some time ago I had the honour to attend and take part in a poetry reading given by members of the Dublin Writers Workshop (publishers of this collection). I was very impressed by the dedication of the members and by the way in which they mingled seriousness with humour in the presentation of their poems. An interesting aspect of that evening was the intelligent awareness each writer showed of the work of others, so that a climate was created, an atmosphere of critical sympathy and discriminating attention. This made the evening extremely enjoyable and memorable.
Another aspect of the evening was the skill with which the writers read their work. It was as if they had lived a long time with their poems, shaping and moulding them to fit their voices, the very rhythms of their personalities. Then I remembered that these writers were members of a Writers' Workshop; they worked at their poems, they listened to each other, they offered critism to each other, they were familiar, in quietly subtle ways, with each other's work.
The effects of that quiet, subtle critical familiarity are evident in this collection. There are over thirty writers represented here; and it is clear immediately that this is no whimsical off-the-cuff collection but a deliberately prepared and carefully chosen gathering of poems and prose. An outstanding feature of the book is the amount of writing by women. I found it fascinating to read all these poems about so many different kinds of experience by so many talented women writers. While not being aggressively feminist (not, at least, in the work presented here) these women write in a candid, independent way that commands immediate respect."

Enyhén ázott példány.