The Important Things

by Audrey Molloy

‘I blame Madonna’ is the arresting opening of one of the poems in Audrey Molloy’s remarkable and distinctive first collection, The Important Things. In an unusual display of different forms the book resounds with echoes of other writers but is the work of a true original. From ‘What We Learned at Loreto’ to ‘Lockdown Boogie’ it explores the surreal, the dreamt and the down-to-earth everyday in images laced with humour, science and sex. It chronicles the end of a marriage and the discovery of new love and renewed passion. ‘Know you tried’ concludes the book’s opening section. Its second part comprises a sequence of poems that mourn her mother, savour memories and rue missed opportunities. The Important Things is a woman’s tale reported in feisty, sensual and beautiful poetry.

‘ . . . know this: someone
once looked upon your life
and wished it were theirs.’
Audrey Molloy has received the Hennessy Award for Emerging Poetry and the An Post Irish Book Award for Irish Poem of the Year.

Born in Dublin and raised in the coastal village of Blackwater, County Wexford, Audrey now lives in Sydney. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Creative Writing (Poetry) at the Manchester Writing School (Manchester Metropolitan University). Drawing on a range of influences from multimedia culture to science and medicine, her poetry explores aspects of modern femininity, motherhood, transformation and impermanence in lyrical verse and prose poems.

79 pages, Hardcover

Published June 24, 2021

About the author

Audrey Molloy’s debut poetry collection, The Important Things (Gallery Books, 2021), received the Anne Elder Award and was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney First Collection Poetry Prize. Her most recent collection, The Blue Cocktail, was published in 2023 by The Gallery Press and Pitt Street Poetry. Her poetry has appeared in Best of Australian Poems, Australian Poetry Anthology, Meanjin, Cordite, Rabbit and Island.

Reviews

[Morag Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most outstanding debut collection by Audrey Molloy. It looks at small moments -universal to us all - with intricate detail and intimate delicacy. At times painful, but always beautiful. An absolute joy to read and return to.

[Luke Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A big fan of Audrey Molloy's poetry...can't wait to read what she writes next.

[Hannah McGrath · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of poems from Audrey - enjoyed every one of them