This large volume of poetry gathers together poems -- previously published & unpublished dating from 1961-1993. Explored with considerable detachment, Eithne Strong's themes are life, death, youth and age, each expressed in the highly achieved style which marks her as a major figure in Irish contemporary poetry. Her death, in August 1999, left literary Ireland feeling a profound sense of loss.

"Eithne Strong's work traverses the gamut of a full life: young woman, wife, suburban mother, student, writer. Her particular theme is to be 'witness to unchangingness as well as change.' Much of the tension in her poems springs from her unease at any cosiness in the 'dark hard tie' of the lover, the 'breaking lover' of motherhood, the college library where 'one could submit so easily'. Ther is both an undergoing and a challenging of all her roles. She remains 'foolishly exposed to life' whether it is a cry to her children for space, coping with a disabled son, the 'creaking of the bones' of age or, in some of her new poems, with her husband's death. The quest goes on:

Micheal O'Siadhail

About the Author

Eithne Strong was one of Ireland's most prominent poets and fiction writer, writing in both English and Irish. Born in West County Limerick she received her early education in a breac-Ghaeltacht (an area where Irish language expressions freely blended with spoken English). In 1942, she joined the Irish language movement in Dublin and published her first poetry in Irish in An Gl—r and Comhar. She married the poet and psychoanalyst Rupert Strong in 1943 and, nine children later, she entered Trinity College, in 1969, as a mature student. She worked in publishing, freelance journalism, teaching and as a facilitator in creative writing courses. Widely published and anthologised in Ireland and overseas, she frequently gave readings at home and abroad. Her poetry was translated into French, Italian and German. A frequent broadcaster in Irish and English, she was granted many travel bursaries and was a member of Aosd‡na. She published a collection of short stories, Patterns (Poolbeg Press, 1991) and two novels. She praised and delighted in the upsurge of women poets in contemporary Ireland and was supportive of young and emerging writers. Her poetry is characterised by generosity of spirit and is a true example of a long life lived to the full. Explored with considerable detachment, her themes are life, death, youth and age, each expressed in the highly achieved style which marks her as a major figure in Irish contemporary poetry. She continued in the eighth decade of her life to write poetry and prose in Irish and in English. Her death, in August 1999, left literary Ireland feeling a profound sense of loss.

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