Carcanet Press - Eavan Boland

About
Reviews

Born in Dublin in 1944, Eavan Boland studied in Ireland, London and New York. Her first book was published in 1967. She has taught at Trinity College, University College and Bowdoin College Dublin, and at the University of Iowa. She is currently Mabury Knapp Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University, California. A pioneering figure in Irish poetry, Boland's previous works include The Journey and other poems (1987), Night Feed (1994), The Lost Land (1998) and Code (2001). Her poems and essays have appeared in magazines such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Kenyon Review and American Poetry Review. She is a regular reviewer for the Irish Times. She divides her time between California and Dublin where she lives with her husband, the novelist Kevin Casey.

Praise for Eavan Boland 'Over eight collections, her developing forms and subjects - the fabric of domestic life, myth, love, history and Irish rural landscape - have kept their commitment to lyrical grace and feminism.'
Ruth Padel, The Independent on Sunday, January 2000.

'A skilled and celebrated poet.'
Ken Gladdish, Poetry Quarterly Review, Autumn 1999.

'Eavan Boland's critical status has burgeoned in the last ten years to the point where she is now one of the major figures in contemporary Irish and women's poetry.'
The North magazine.

'This subtle, unadorned book is typical of Boland's powerfully persuasive manner as a poet.'
Michael Glover, The Independent on Sunday, October 1998.

'The internationally acclaimed Irish poet powerfully and movingly continues to merge private and mythic history.'
W.W. Norton books.

'She's a poet of both painterly and worldly engagements, equally attentive to the dance of the intellect and the testimony of the senses.'
The Boston Review.

'Thoughtful, spare and elgant verse from one of Ireland's most significant poets.'
Margaret Greenwood, The Rough Guide to Ireland.

'A modern romantic with impressive intellectual resources, Boland fulfils her desire to "bless the ordinary...sanctify the common." Her poems have a rare artistic resonance.'
Alan Bold, The Scotsman, 1987.

'She has the equipment of the true poet, that is to say an image-making faculty, a true devoted eye and an ear for rhythm.'
Iain Crichton Smith, Chapman magazine, 1989.

'Boland's gift is that she is always accessible, never elitist, but intelligent, striving and inclusive.'
Sue Hubbard, New Statesman and Society, 1996.

'The wealth of Eavan Boland's language is complemented by a visual wealth in metaphors.'
Anthony Libby, the New York Times, 1987.

'More than twenty years ago her voice was sweet and low and musical...now it has deepened in resonance and authority.'
Brian Kennelly, The Irish Times, 1986.

THE SUNDAY POEM:
Every week Ruth Padel discusses a contemporary poet through an example of their work. read more

Classic: Charlotte Mew, Selected Poems edited and with an introduction by Eavan Boland "There is a sort of salt and spray about reading Mew for the first time," says Eavan Boland in her introduction. read more

No one has articulated the dilemmas of being a woman poet in Ireland with more poise than Eavan Boland. read more

Jay Parini, Poetry Review , Summer 2007
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Gerry Smith, The Irish Times
The Arts 2007
A new collection by one of our most accomplished poets and a distinctive voice in the contemporary canon. read more

Fiona Sampson, Irish Times
Pre-eminent poet of experience
Forty years after her first book, New Territory , was published, Eavan Boland's work continues to deepen in both humanity and complexity. read more

Patricia Boyle Haberstroh, Poetry Ireland Review , issue 47
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Elaine Feinstein, Poetry Review Volume 96:3 Autumn 2006 �Swept, Emptied, Kept
Boland is one of the finest and boldest poets of the last half-century. read more

John Greening, Times Literary Supplement , 27th October 2006. read more

Anne Fogarty, The Irish Book Review , Volume I Number III Winter 2005:
Books of collected poems fulfil several competing purposes. read more

Thomas McCarthy, The Irish Times , 4th February, 2006:
Surviving the swans
Evan Boland's latest collection illustrates how she managed to escape from the grip of tradition
Reading Eavan Boland's powerful oeuvre in the New Collected Poems , one is immediately struck by the idea that persistent moral courage is a powerful technical advantage in a poet's work. read more

John Redmond, The Guardian , Saturday 18th February 2006
In the heaven of lost futures
John Redmond admires Eavan Boland's forlorn, regretful collection. read more