Read Ireland Book Reviews
Special Issue - Seven Towers Press
6/7 February 2010
Across The Grid of Streets By Quincy R Lehr
Hardback - Price: 14.99 Euro
Also available in Paperback - Price: 9.99 Euro
Casebound Limited Edition Book Quincy Lehr's poetry, suffused with the language and imagery of New York city and the lingering memories of his native Oklahoma, provides us with lyrical full colour snapshots of life on the streets where we live and the many roads we pass through in life. Angry, evocative, descriptive, reflective, the poems in this collection breathe on the pages and will draw the reader into their world again and again Across the Grid of Streets was launched to much critical acclaim in Ireland . It has been described by Michael O Loughlin as "intellectually rigorous and displaying a serious engagement with poetic form", by John W Sexton as "a wonderfully strong and powerful collection" and Liam Aungier has described Quincy as "one of the finest poets I have had the pleasure of knowing". "Quincy R Lehr is another American who has relocated to Ireland. Across the Grid of Streets, his first full collection, is published in an attractive format, though unfortunately in italics throughout. These long, busy poems demonstrate much energy and narrative talent. It will be interesting to see how Lehr develops as he engages with the fruitful constraints of canon and form" Fiona Sampson Irish Times June 14 2008.
Arthur' Primer by Oran Ryan
Paperback - 5.00 Euro [Add To Basket]
Arthur’s Primer by Oran Ryan is the companion book for Ten Short Novels by Arthur Kruger.
Census - The First Seven Towers Anthology
Hardback - 10.99 Euro
This book, which contains poetry, fiction, memoirs and articles is a collaboration between the spoken word and the written wotrd. All featured writers are committed to the public performance of their work. Contributors to Census are: Kildare poet Liam Aungier, Meath musician, broadcaster, journalist and poet Eamon Carr, Cork based poet and screenwriter Paul Casey, Cavan poet and educator Tom Conaty, Dublin writer and Phantom FM DJ Steve Conway, Dublin poet, broadcaster and teacher Catherine Ann Cullen, Dublin writer, journalist, broadcaster and musician Conor Farrell, Wicklow writer Shane Harrison, New Zealand born, Dublin based poet Ross Hattaway, Galway poet and journalist Kevin Higgins, New York poet and novelist R Nemo Hill, Kildare writer Eileen Keane, Kerry actor and poet Noel King, Oklahoma born, New York based poet Quincy R Lehr, Dublin born, Kerry based writer Colm Lundberg, Dublin poet Éamonn Lynskey, Waterford born, Dublin based writer Donal Moloney, Dublin artist, sculptor and poet Joe Moran, Dublin poet Anne Morgan, Tralee born, Wexford based actor, director, producer, playwright and poet Noel Ó Briain, Kerry writer Tommy Frank O'Connor, Cork based artist and poet Mel O'Dea, Limerick poet Eddie O'Dwyer, Dublin based poet and playwright Fintan O'Higgins, Dublin based poet Maeve O'Sullivan, Dublin based poet Jessica Peart, New York poet Ray Pospisil, Dublin based, San Francisco poet Raven, Dublin writer Oran Ryan, Kerry based writer John W Sexton, Kerry poet Eileen Sheehan, Armagh born, Dundalk based poet and essayist Barbara Smith, Cork poet Patricia Walsh and North Carolina poet Doog Wood.
Living Streets - An anthology of the Ranelagh Arts Festival
Paperback – 12.99 Euro [Add To Basket]
AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE RICH AND VARIED CREATIVE OUTPUT FROM THE RANELAGH ARTS FESTIVAL - IN ONE VOLUME Living Streets contains fiction, non-fiction, poetry and visual art work from the Ranelagh Arts Festival and features: work from Bill Barich, Eamon Carr, Evelyn Conlon, Tom Conaty, Anthony Cronin, Tony Gilmore, Pauline Hall, Ross Hattaway, Anne Haverty, Francis Hyland, Maeve Kelly, Eamonn Lynskey, Aidan Matthews, Cláir Ní Aonghusa, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanán, Noel Ó Briain, Honor Ó Brolcháin, Louise O’Callaghan, Raven, Nollaig Rowan, James Ryan, Oran Ryan, David Scott, Luke Sheehan, Ronan Sheehan, Macdara Woods, Bohoe, Raghu Babu, Imelda Healy, Kate Horgan, Ann Murphy, Daragh Owens, Martin Parr, Brigid Tiernan
The Death of Finn by Oran Ryan
Hardback – 12.99 [Add To Basket]
Paperback – 5.99 [Add To Basket]
Ryan's novel, The Death of Finn concerns the sudden and untimely death of Joe Finn, a brilliant and eccentric young monk, and traces the impact of his death on the people around him, in particular his one-time best friend Frank, himself an ex-monk. The Death of Finn is a love story and a story of friendship. This beautifully written novel traces the relationship between Frank Ryan and Joe Finn, and the effect that this relationship, Finn’s life and death has on Frank and on other people in their lives. It explores love and its absence as well as the power of institutions over individual relationships. Finn manages to be a truly Irish book while simultaneously evoking an internationally recognisable sense of place. It is also evocative of the past while being truly modern. Resplendent with beautiful one-liners and carefully drawn characters, it is sure to become and to remain one of the classics of Irish literature as Oran Ryan will become and remain one of its voices. Extracts from Giovanni Seipi at Home Underlying the main text of The Death of Finn is a sub-text concerning a book, Giovanni Seipi at Home that the main character of the novel, Joe Finn, has written. In a unique venture, Seven Towers has produced a miniature version of extracts from this book to accompany the publication of The Death of Finn, Extracts from Giovanni Seipi at Home. This miniature book is in the form of an academic biography and is written in the voice of Joe Finn. Reviews of The Death of Finn Seamus Cashman , (author, poet and founder of one of Ireland’s leading literary and cultural publishing houses, Wolfhound Press ) described Oran as a new and powerful voice in Irish literature. He praised The Death of Finn for the fine detail of the writing, and the clarity and simplicity of expression and phraseology and described it as a serious and entertaining and perceptive novel of relationships and ideas and a book which will hold readers enthralled and awakened as they journey through it. The Death of Finn succeeds well as a study of the search for faith and the inner workings of monasticism as seen from the Irish Catholic viewpoint, while also addressing the question of honesty with self and with others” Irish Emigrant (www.emigrant.ie ) The book covers . . . evoking memories of vintage Penguin design . . . will excite the collectors amongst us who believe the concept of the first edition has long expired. Extra marks to whoever had the great idea of issuing the miniature companion piece to the novel . . . such attention to detail will go far.” Ronan Browne, Village.
The Gentle Art of Rotting by Ross Hattaway
Hardback – 14.99 Euro [Add To Basket]
Paperback – 9.99 Euro [Add To Basket]
This collection of poetry by Ross Hattaway was published by Seven Towers in Autumn 2006. This is the first collection of poetry by Ross Hattaway. It is a collection of 'High Country'; poetry, reflecting the dichotomy of the New Zealand High Country where starkness and beauty, economy and expression, machismo and inner sensitivity exist in a symbiotic yet sometimes uneasy relationship. Moving and humorous, these arresting poems reflect the origins and upbringing of the poet and the psychic landscape of New Zealand. (OCT 2006) “an exciting new collection of poetry” The Sunday Independent
William Montgomery's Guide to New York City by Quincy R Lehr
Paperback – 5 Euro [Add To Basket]
This Little tower Book Continues Lehr's Poetic Journey through the Vast Mythical landscape as seen through the fictional eyes of his witty Commentator, W. Montgomery, the disillusioned artist outsider who still sees hope and beauty amidst the urban melee that constitutes the Great City of New York.
Old Men Forget by Doug Wood
Paperback – 9.99 Euro
Large Format Paperback with 8 page full colour photo insert; 12 Euro / 16 USD / 10 UK; 300 pages [Add To Basket]
Powerful, concise, gripping and humorous first collection by North Carolina Poet Doog Wood giving a unique perspective on his forebears while desrcbing in cameo form the dynamics of a close knit community - 112 pages Old Men Forget is the first collection of Doog’s haunting, poignant often disturbing and sometimes humorous poetry, that tells the story of three of his forefathers, brothers who lived and worked the land in North Carolina. He creates through his work a living archive of these specific men and that specific time that manages to reach beyond that time to become universal stories, whose truths are our truths too.
Ten Short Novels By Arthur Kruger by Oran Ryan
Hardback – 12.99 Euro [Add To Basket]
Paperback – 9.99 Euro [Add To Basket]
Ten Short Novels by Arthur Kruger is Oran Ryan’s second novel. This novel circumvents the natural order of novel writing as it is written in a cubistic format and the series of short novels contained within the novel are written by the hero of the novel. “No belief system was harmed in the writing of this book” (AJK) Ten Short Novels by Arthur Kruger ©Oran Ryan, 2006 Ten Short Novels by Arthur Kruger is Oran Ryan’s second novel. This novel circumvents the natural order of novel writing as it is written in a cubistic format and the series of short novels contained within the novel are written by the hero of the novel himself, rather than the real-life author. Each chapter takes a different life, giving ten different perspectives on Arthur Kruger, some as lived by Kruger after he kills himself and inexplicably finds himself alive after being hit by a train. Exploring themes like life, love and the after-life, Kruger, as the author, challenges the reader to question their understanding of existence. Ten Short Novels can be read as a possible journey into a mind in the grip of a breakdown or the fictional autobiography of a man who kills himself and inexplicably finds himself still alive. Whichever way the reader experiences it, living life will never be the same again after reading Ten Short Novels by Arthur Kruger. Writer and actor Frank Kelly, who launched the novel, described it as a stimulating, enjoyable and challenging novel “that made me chuckle with its wry Beckett-like humour.
Scattering Day - 21 Sonnets and other poems by Noel O Briain
Hardback – 12.99 Euro [Add To Basket]
Paperback – 9.99 Euro [Add To Basket]
Varied in form, idea and philosophy, Noel’s multifaceted poems use free form and sonnets to address universal issues. In some cases, Noel uses historical incidences such as the Iraqi war and use of child soldiers in Palestine as a backdrop to his exploration of these issues. The poems are powerful, devastatingly honest and disturbingly intense, but also manage to be hilariously funny.
Eamon Mac Gearailt - The Forgotten Bard by Noel O Briain
Paperback – 5 Euro [Add To Basket]
This biography of the fictional poet - mac Gearailt - comprises a fascinating study of the irish Traditions of story telling, replete with humour and wit, this 'slim volume will thrill and fascinate, as it will amuse...
The Origami Crow: Journey into Japan, World Cup Summer 2002 by Eamon Carr
Hardback – 20 Euro [Add To Basket]
Paperback – 9.99 Euro [Add To Basket]
As a sports columnist for a Dublin daily, journalist Eamon Carr watched the unfolding drama of the 2002 World Cup finals firsthand in Japan. Yet against the intense public spectacle of media attention following the controversial departure of Ireland captain Roy Keane, Carr followed his own private journey - a lifelong quest to visit the shrines and places of the famed poet Matsuo Basho, recognized master of haiku. In a volume of spare, elegant prose and his own haiku chronicling impressions and revelations of that journey, Carr explores the deep interrelationships found within the seeming contrasts of ancient and modern, nation and individual, crowd and solitude, loss and victory. Histories, memories and legends, as well as the wry personal observations of the weary working traveller, merge to create this profoundly moving narrative on the universal nature of grace and redemption.
The Bell by Ray Pospisil
Paperback – 9.99 Euro [Add To Basket]
First Collection by the late Ray Pospisil - a book of remarkable precision feeling and clarity filled with unforgettable poems. see full description below. "...Of course it has become commonplace on book-jackets to claim that the author manages to find the extraordinary within the ordinary, but for all the typicality of that praise, most poems that start ordinary end ordinary. Ray’s work, infused as it was with a restless imagination that never shied away when things turned too dark, managed to break through the chrysalis of mere coping to reveal a world that was more exquisite than one had reckoned, and at the same time far more disquieting...." Taken from the introductory speech given by Quincy R Lehr at the launch of "the Bell" by Ray Pospisil at the Nightingale Lounge Manhattan, New York, 17th June 2009
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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