The Essential Brendan Kennelly: Selected Poems - Softcover

Brendan Kennelly

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1852249048 ISBN 13: 9781852249045

Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd, 2011

Synopsis

Brendan Kennelly was one of Ireland's most popular and prolific poets. Over five decades he has written thousands of poems published in over 30 books of poetry, including three previous editions of Selected Poems. Published on his 75th birthday, this selection presents just over a hundred of Kennelly's most essential poems, accompanied by an audio CD of his own readings drawn from two classic recordings made in Dublin in 1982 and 1999. The Essential Brendan Kennelly has been edited by two lifelong admirers of his work. Like Kennelly, Terence Brown, Emeritus Professor of Anglo-Irish Literature, studied at Trinity College Dublin, and taught there for most of life. After studying at Trinity College, Michael Longley went on to become one of Ireland's leading poets and was Ireland Professor of Poetry in 2007-10.

'He [Brendan Kennelly] has been called "a ballad maker on an epic scale" and the selection of poems on the Leaving Cert syllabus certainly captures his epic range and fearless approach to poetry.' – Elaine Dobbyn, Irish Independent (Poets in Focus)

About this title

About the Author

Brendan Kennelly (1936-2021) was one of Ireland's most distinguished and best loved poets, as well as a renowned teacher and cultural commentator. Born in 1936 in Ballylongford, Co. Kerry, he was Professor of Modern Literature at Trinity College, Dublin for over 30 years, and retired from teaching in 2005. He published over 30 books of poetry, including Familiar Strangers: New & Selected Poems 1960-2004 (Bloodaxe Books, 2004), which includes the whole of his book-length poem The Man Made of Rain (1998). He was best-known for two controversial poetry books, Cromwell, published in Ireland in 1983 and in Britain by Bloodaxe in 1987, and his epic poem The Book of Judas (1991), which topped the Irish bestsellers list: a shorter version was published by Bloodaxe in 2002 as The Little Book of Judas. His third epic, Poetry My Arse (1995), did much to outdo these in notoriety. All these remain available separately from Bloodaxe, along with his more recent titles: Glimpses (2001), Martial Art (2003), Now (2006), Reservoir Voices (2009), The Essential Brendan Kennelly: Selected Poems, edited by Terence Brown and Michael Longley, with audio CD (2011), and Guff (2013). His anthology The Heavy Bear Who Goes with Me – co-edited with Neil Astley – was published by Bloodaxe on 17 April 2022.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1852249048
• ISBN 13: 9781852249045
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160
• Editor: Terence Brown, Michael Longley