The Island

The Island begins with a haunting 1848 journal entry from a man jailed on Spike Island in Ireland: “Gazing on gray stones, my eyes will grow stony.” Nearly 150 years later, Rosemary Canavan, a poet and painter, teaches literacy at the prison on Spike Island. How do her painter’s eyes and poet’s spirit meet the stony gray of prisoners’ eyes? Throughout these poems, and especially in her long sequence “The Island,” Canavan explores with tenderness and pathos the plight of the incarcerated. With lyrics that seem to be written in primary color, Canavan also celebrates love and children, her struggles as a working mother, and the emerging, vibrant feminist consciousness of a new generation of Irish women.

Price
Tradepaper: $20 / ISBN: 9781586540593
Casebound: $30 / ISBN: 9781586540845

Story Line Press legacy tittle, Rosemary Canavan The Island Poems, white script text against emerald green background.

Rosemary Canavan ( Author Website )

Publication Date: May 11, 2021

Genre/Imprint: Poetry, Story Line Press

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