Cirrus@Austlit

'In the face of fire, flood and plague, environmental catastrophe and political chaos, the challenge is that poetry, in Auden’s words, ‘show an affirming flame’.

'The poems in The Dancing Man are an attempt to move from grief and loss towards consolations, however limited these might be. Intimations of connection and inter-dependence between all living things is the fragile basis for a first step towards spiritual re-orientation and an art of hope.'  (Publication summary)

'David Young is a divorced Vietnam veteran, an artist and a gardener. He is trying to come to terms with the trauma of war through his painting. With every brush-stroke he seeks to transform the moments of brutality, the memories of violence that plague his nights and haunt his days. At the same time, he is trying to manage a fractious relationship with his feisty sixteen-year-old daughter, Josie. When a single mum and her son move into the flat next door, further complications enter David’s life. As he tries to find a way forward, Josie enters a downward spiral. David believes his trauma is somehow becoming hers. When his daughter’s life threatens to spin out of control, he must do everything he can to save her …

'A Winter Sowing is a moving exploration of the unspeakable and a compelling story of one man’s quest for redemption through art and love.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'This Cathedral Grief responds to the death of Adrian Caesar’s sister, Karen, from pancreatic cancer in 2012-13. This book explores various dimensions of faith—secular, artistic and spiritual—in an attempt to wrest meaning from the blank of loss. Without supporting any single position or belief, these poems are provisional statements, charting the impossibility of celebrating or memorialising someone successfully, much less recovering that person through language.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Whose side are you on? Where does your loyalty lie? Belfast, 1912. Jack Young joins the mass rally to sign the Covenant pledging Ulster Protestants to oppose Home Rule by any means possible. But he has a guilty secret. He is in love with a Catholic girl, Kathleen McCafferty, who is carrying his child. Public and private loyalties collide, dividing Jack and Kathleen, but their feelings for each other remain strong. After years of separation in which both become entangled in the political struggle and Jack survives the First World War, they find each other again. But troubles are brewing in Belfast and their love is once again threatened by sectarian violence. . . Can a priest’s words make a difference or will guns do the talking?' (Publication summary)