Gub

by Scott McKendry

Demons, geese, The Laughing Cow, marching bands, LSD and pistols smuggled home from the USSR. You'll find all these in Scott McKendry's GUB. Rooted in the language of working-class Belfast, and slipping between eras and time zones, closing the gap between the real and the fantastical, the academic and the everyday, the parish and the polis, McKendry's exhilarating debut collection comes to terms with generational trauma, social decay and the rituals of a place with a fraught history and an uncertain future. Invoking the balaclava'd gunmen, urban warlords and explosions which gripped the decades either side of the Good Friday Agreement, GUB drags the language of ghettoised Belfast into serious Irish poetry. Wearing the lyrical influences of his 'ugly city' lightly - Carson, McGuckian, Longley - McKendry's tightly-wrought structures weave an unprecedented verse of mourning, witness, alter ego, class alienation and aesthetic turmoil. Noisy, dark and witty, GUB is an utterly new voice out of Belfast, but one posting bulletins across inner-city neighbourhoods everywhere.

Genres: Poetry, Ireland

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2024

Reviews

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gub is Northern Irish poet Scott McKendry's brilliantly original first book of elaborate, sometimes quite obtuse but invariably fascinating poems about such a huge variety of topics that it was often both a little jarring as well as refreshing, as it moved from one vastly different subject matter to another. McKendry makes full use of his Northern Irish heritage in both the use of Celtic language and well worn, extremely heavy use of NI/Belfast slang and the places and people selected throughout to be showcased.

Each poem only usually runs the span of a single page so with each page turned there is more often than not a new poem on a completely new topic which has no link to the previous. Hence, it takes a little getting used to but it becomes quite fun as I always wanted to read on and discover what lay before me despite the cryptic/highly enigmatic nature of quite a few of them. Some poems resonate more than others, like in any anthology. Some gripped me immediately and some took a second reading to really feel what McKendry had been hoping to convey. Amongst my favourites were Belphégor, Lord of the Gap, Hell's Ambassador to France; Swazzle; Hopewell Place & Snap.

As I'm not a native Irish speaker, I had to look some of the words up to be able to comprehend the narrative and ended up down quite the rabbit hole; this is ultimately inconvenient but didn't take away from the experience of the book or its flow too much. Despite my enjoyment of the majority of it, it strikes me as a quite niche but with a rather severe lack of competent poets putting out their work of late, I'm sure it'll receive the recognition deserving of this collection of richly textured, unapologetically original and sometimes beguiling pieces. Perhaps an acquired taste even if you do understand the ubiquitous Irish slang but nonetheless Gub remains an enjoyable book of poetry.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Including the line “you owe me a tenner, dickhead” is truly inspired work

~~~

As soon as I saw the name of this book I knew it had to be a local author. of course! a very Belfast poetry collection.

This is so fun & charming with something more sinister bubbling under the surface. probably the aul generational trauma if I were to take a wild guess.

Love to see a new poet coming out of the North & what a debut this is.

[Amanda Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic. My knowledge of Northern Irish slang was really helpful when reading this. Made me feel like I was back in Belfast. Great job, Scott!!

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 for the lovely Scott McKendry who I have had the pleasure to meet and who my students have the pleasure to learn from while studying abroad at Queen's University Belfast. While my knowledge on the history of Ireland and Belfast more specifically is not up to snuff enough for me to have as many takeaways as a local, the writing was still witty and captivating. Anyway...

[Marc Nash · Rating 3 out of 5]

Video review https://youtu.be/r_xnoaTb0ks

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weird, complex, multilayered, sometimes hard to read. I loved this poems that mixes a lot of elements creating some original and meaningful
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Ben Dutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gub is a poetry collection from Scott McKendry rooted firmly in his native Belfast. This is a true tour-de-force, lyrical, funny, full of Irish charm and utterly unique. I will be pushing copies of this into the hands of poetry lovers. The use of language is rich, varied - standard English but also Belfast dialect - and full of arresting imagery. I can't wait to read more from him in the future. A new talent has arrived.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

[Maeve Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

HIS MIND FOR THIS!!!! i never thought i could be so engaged with poetry. i was happily googling every other word. this is such an artful collection with a playful yet sad voice. i love how he frames life in belfast and intermingles the extra-european/french influence. slang in poetry has never been so good. Scott McKendry is the next Seamus Heaney — YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!!!

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these poems , "Ingrate" made me laugh so much, I memorised it and told it to everyone who would listen. And I could actually make out the "Eejit phonetics" before getting to the end of the book where it was explained.

The whole way through the book, after reading each individual poem I had to sit and allow myself to feel some sort of nostalgia. I'm not from the north but close enough to the border that I had ITV growing up. Similar memories of the characters or even similar memories of aesthetics were elicited from me with each poem.

Great set of poems, I will be picking it up again and again.

[Alice Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Thomas Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book of poetry. Like nothing I've never read. Very personal and conjures a place and time I've never seen or experienced, but are made to feel.