Washing Up

by Derek Mahon

as new unused

Genres: Poetry

Unknown Binding

About the author

Derek Mahon was born in Belfast in 1941, studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and the Sorbonne, and has held journalistic and academic appointments in London and New York. A member of Aosdána, he has received numerous awards including the Irish Academy of Letters Award, the Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize, and Lannan and Guggenheim Fellowships. - See more at: http://www.gallerypress.com/authors/m...

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Derek Mahon died October 2020 at the age of 78. This volume, which he had recently finished was published a few weeks later. Mahon shows his concern for the environment and climate change which he had held for decades. He doesn't shy away from politics, and his critical of consumerism and all the attached evils. He is a poet who continued to use rhyme and rhythm effectively, even when it was seen as outdated. Born in Belfast, he had been part of the core group of Ulster poets who thrived beginning in the 1970's.

Some of my favorite poems include:
"Open Air" about former revolutionaries and change agents who have become complacent consumers.
"Spuds in Space" - an ode to potatoes
"St. Cecelia's Day"- dedicated to Paul Simon and the saint.
"A Fox on Grafton Street" - about wildlife in Dublin during the pandemic, and the final poem written for his friend Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, and poet, "Wordto the Wise".

These aren't the best of Mahon's poems. But they show his breadth, his mastery of poetic forms, his social concerns, and his thoughts at the end of his life.

[Carrie Etter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Routinely simplistic and anodyne. A disappointment.