The Funeral Game travels a pathway between two worlds, holding and reconciling Earth and Heaven — Life and Death as one reality.
A soul landscape of changing myths, fugitive idols, where fantasy is at play and collection is coloured by a deep rooted spirituality and a longing for change in an ageing Christianity, much challenged by the secular. The Funeral Game is Monahan's way of reinventing himself and travelling on.
"His poems have such vivacity that they carry us uncomplaining into the serio-comic world of e.e. cummings."
James J. McAuley, The Irish Times
"Monahan's poems take place in a sunlit imagination where the blacker side of life, although not absent, is not allowed to darken the material.... The mythological poems are light and magical: they dazzle the mind and have a comical touch."
Maurice Harmon, Poetry Ireland Review
"What makes Noel Monahan's poems such a pleasure to read is the relish with which the poet approaches their composition."
Rory Brennan, Books Ireland
Noel Monahan has won several awards for his work. In 2001 he won the prestigious SeaCat National Poetry Award, organised by Poetry Ireland. Also in 2001 he won the RTE, P.J. O'Connor Award, for his play, Broken Cups. In 2002 he won the ASTI Achievements Award for his contribution to literature at home and abroad. Other awards include The Allingham Poetry Award and The Kilkenny Prize for Poetry. Noel Monahan's work has appeared in The Irish Times, The Sunday Tribune, Books Ireland, Poetry Australia and many more outlets. His collections of poetry include Opposite Walls (Salmon, 1991) and Snowfire (Salmon, 1995). He is co-editor of Windows Publications and has published five Authors & Artists Introduction Series. His plays include Half A Vegetable, a dramatic presentation of Patrick Kavanagh's poetry, A Proverbial Wet Summer, and Feathers of Time. His poetry has been translated into Italian, Romanian and French and he has read his work at numerous summer schools and poetry festivals throughout Ireland. His poetry has appeared in many anthologies, most recently texts for Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate English.
A soul landscape of changing myths, fugitive idols, where fantasy is at play and collection is coloured by a deep rooted spirituality and a longing for change in an ageing Christianity, much challenged by the secular. The Funeral Game is Monahan's way of reinventing himself and travelling on.
"His poems have such vivacity that they carry us uncomplaining into the serio-comic world of e.e. cummings."
James J. McAuley, The Irish Times
"Monahan's poems take place in a sunlit imagination where the blacker side of life, although not absent, is not allowed to darken the material.... The mythological poems are light and magical: they dazzle the mind and have a comical touch."
Maurice Harmon, Poetry Ireland Review
"What makes Noel Monahan's poems such a pleasure to read is the relish with which the poet approaches their composition."
Rory Brennan, Books Ireland
Noel Monahan has won several awards for his work. In 2001 he won the prestigious SeaCat National Poetry Award, organised by Poetry Ireland. Also in 2001 he won the RTE, P.J. O'Connor Award, for his play, Broken Cups. In 2002 he won the ASTI Achievements Award for his contribution to literature at home and abroad. Other awards include The Allingham Poetry Award and The Kilkenny Prize for Poetry. Noel Monahan's work has appeared in The Irish Times, The Sunday Tribune, Books Ireland, Poetry Australia and many more outlets. His collections of poetry include Opposite Walls (Salmon, 1991) and Snowfire (Salmon, 1995). He is co-editor of Windows Publications and has published five Authors & Artists Introduction Series. His plays include Half A Vegetable, a dramatic presentation of Patrick Kavanagh's poetry, A Proverbial Wet Summer, and Feathers of Time. His poetry has been translated into Italian, Romanian and French and he has read his work at numerous summer schools and poetry festivals throughout Ireland. His poetry has appeared in many anthologies, most recently texts for Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate English.