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What does Ireland's nature poetry say about us as a people? How does it speak to us of our past, our inheritance, the values to which we aspire? What clues lie within its language that connect us to our deeper selves and our place within our communities and environments?
As varied as our plants, animals and habitats,
Windfall: Irish Nature Poems to Inspire and Connect presents a portrait of an ever-changing vista. Jane Carkill's captivating original illustrations of Ireland's rich and diverse natural world add to the sense of enchantment and wonder.
Each poem pays attention to nature while also reflecting on the loves and losses of our everyday lives. Award-winning poet Jane Clarke's selection includes some of our best-known poets, from Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, Michael Longley, Paula Meehan, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Paul Muldoon.
There are poems here to make us laugh and cry, to help us celebrate and grieve; poems to put words on what can seem inexpressible as we connect to the other living beings with which we share this island.
About the author
Jane Clarke (Author) Jane Clarke is the author of three poetry collections,
The River (2015),
When the Tree Falls (2019) and
A Change in the Air (2023) published by Bloodaxe Books, as well as an illustrated poetry booklet,
All the Way Home, (Smith|Doorstop 2019). Jane received the Listowel Writers' Week Poem of the Year Award 2016, the Hennessy Literary Award for Poetry 2016 and the Ireland Chair of Poetry Travel Award 2022.
The River was the first poetry collection ever shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Award, given for a distinguished work of fiction or non-fiction evoking the spirit of a place.
When the Tree Falls was shortlisted for the Pigott Poetry Prize 2020, the Irish Times Poetry Now Award 2020 and the Farmgate Café National Poetry Award 2020 as well as being longlisted for the Royal Society for Literature Ondaatje Award 2020. She grew up on a farm in Co. Roscommon and now lives with her wife in the uplands of Co. Wicklow. www.janeclarkepoetry.ie
Jane Carkill (Illustrator) Jane Carkill is an illustrator and textile designer living in the heart of The Burren in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland. She studied Fine Art Textiles at the School of Design and Creative Arts in Atlantic Technological University.
She is fascinated by natural ephemeral beauty and intricate detail and combines a love of folklore, narration, myth and story with a precise style of illustration to capture an essence in nature that is both magical and nostalgic. Flora and fauna are the ultimate inspiration for her work, which work portrays the distinctive elements and characteristics of her everyday experience in the countryside.
Summary
The best of poetry inspired by Ireland's natural world, with stunning illustrations in full colour by leading Irish nature artist Jane Carkill
