“At the heart of Gerard Smyth’s entire oeuvre is an intriguing duality. He is an urban poet who emerged as an artist from the distinctive Dublin modernism of Michael Smith’s New Writers’ Press, yet his work over the years has accumulated all the characteristics of a compelling, Kavanagh-like, story-telling narrative method.”
So begins Thomas McCarthy’s insightful Introduction to this generous selection of four decades of Gerard Smyth’s poetry, in which his intimacy with his native city (“Smyth’s synagogue”, as McCarthy calls it) is balanced by a fascination with the wider imaginative world of Art and of “many journeys”, both outward and interior.
“At his best he can set images ringing with life and make them resonant with significance.”
Books Ireland
“Gerard Smyth has a painstaking eye for the telling detail... in his hands the impact of simplicity is extraordinary.”
Philip Casey
“He may do for Dublin in verse what Joyce did for it in prose.”
Michael Hartnett
Gerard Smyth was born in 1951 in Dublin, where he still lives. His poetry has been published widely in literary journals in Ireland, Britain and the United States, as well as in translation, since the late 1960s. He is the author of several poetry collections, including Daytime Sleeper (2002), A New Tenancy (2004) and The Mirror Tent (2007), all from the Dedalus Press. He is a member of Aosdána.
So begins Thomas McCarthy’s insightful Introduction to this generous selection of four decades of Gerard Smyth’s poetry, in which his intimacy with his native city (“Smyth’s synagogue”, as McCarthy calls it) is balanced by a fascination with the wider imaginative world of Art and of “many journeys”, both outward and interior.
“At his best he can set images ringing with life and make them resonant with significance.”
Books Ireland
“Gerard Smyth has a painstaking eye for the telling detail... in his hands the impact of simplicity is extraordinary.”
Philip Casey
“He may do for Dublin in verse what Joyce did for it in prose.”
Michael Hartnett
Gerard Smyth was born in 1951 in Dublin, where he still lives. His poetry has been published widely in literary journals in Ireland, Britain and the United States, as well as in translation, since the late 1960s. He is the author of several poetry collections, including Daytime Sleeper (2002), A New Tenancy (2004) and The Mirror Tent (2007), all from the Dedalus Press. He is a member of Aosdána.