The Drowning of the Saints is a stunning debut and introduces a young writer with a distinctive new voice, full of verve and promise.
The collection is filled with sensual, lyrical and beautifully crafted poems, poems which are often infused with a dream-like magic and arouse a sense of longing, searching, and questioning. Whether it is a rumination on a gate to a farm, a painting by Breughel, the end of a love affair or the armada's wreckage off the West coast of Ireland, Perry infuses his work with a spiritual luminosity and a relentless search for meaning.
"The Drowning of the Saints is a remarkable triumph. The poems are a coalition of imaginative flair and formal discipline. Each poem bristles with life and longing, intelligence and wit. These are lines and stanzas and poems that signal wisdom beyond his youth. In this sense he is a prodigiously gifted poet. I feel he will distinguish himself as one of the most original of younger writers."
Fred D'Aguiar
"Paul Perry's début collection startled me, confused me, made me think, made me angry and envious. His voice should be heard and anyone who doesn't buy a copy of this book is missing out on a real poetic find."
Fred Johnston
"I can do nothing but recommend this collection as strongly as possible for anyone interested, not only in contemporary Irish poetry, but contemporary world poetry. It's an enjoyable read, always entertaining, sometimes demanding. Salmon Poetry have produced an attractive collection and are to be commended on their high production values. The book does not read like a first collection. And with the publications Perry has behind him, the TLS and Scribner's The Best American Poetry 2000... that is no surprise. The Drowning of the Saints is one of the best first collections this reviewer has read in a long time and Paul Perry is certainly one of the most exciting Irish poets writing now."
David Arnold
Paul Perry was born in Dublin in 1972. He won the Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year Award in 1998. He received a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Brown University and has been a James Michener Fellow of Creative Writing at The University of Miami, and a C. Glenn Cambor Fellow of Poetry at The University of Houston. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Poetry Ireland Review, Cyphers, TLS and The Best American Poetry 2000. He served as Writer in Residence for Co. Longford, from 2000-2002. In 2002, he won the Listowel Prize for Poetry.
The collection is filled with sensual, lyrical and beautifully crafted poems, poems which are often infused with a dream-like magic and arouse a sense of longing, searching, and questioning. Whether it is a rumination on a gate to a farm, a painting by Breughel, the end of a love affair or the armada's wreckage off the West coast of Ireland, Perry infuses his work with a spiritual luminosity and a relentless search for meaning.
"The Drowning of the Saints is a remarkable triumph. The poems are a coalition of imaginative flair and formal discipline. Each poem bristles with life and longing, intelligence and wit. These are lines and stanzas and poems that signal wisdom beyond his youth. In this sense he is a prodigiously gifted poet. I feel he will distinguish himself as one of the most original of younger writers."
Fred D'Aguiar
"Paul Perry's début collection startled me, confused me, made me think, made me angry and envious. His voice should be heard and anyone who doesn't buy a copy of this book is missing out on a real poetic find."
Fred Johnston
"I can do nothing but recommend this collection as strongly as possible for anyone interested, not only in contemporary Irish poetry, but contemporary world poetry. It's an enjoyable read, always entertaining, sometimes demanding. Salmon Poetry have produced an attractive collection and are to be commended on their high production values. The book does not read like a first collection. And with the publications Perry has behind him, the TLS and Scribner's The Best American Poetry 2000... that is no surprise. The Drowning of the Saints is one of the best first collections this reviewer has read in a long time and Paul Perry is certainly one of the most exciting Irish poets writing now."
David Arnold
Paul Perry was born in Dublin in 1972. He won the Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year Award in 1998. He received a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Brown University and has been a James Michener Fellow of Creative Writing at The University of Miami, and a C. Glenn Cambor Fellow of Poetry at The University of Houston. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Poetry Ireland Review, Cyphers, TLS and The Best American Poetry 2000. He served as Writer in Residence for Co. Longford, from 2000-2002. In 2002, he won the Listowel Prize for Poetry.