John F. Deane of the Dedalus Press informs me that he had just been made Secretary General of the European Academy of Poetry, which is a very grand title indeed - and apposite, too, given that some of the new Dedalus publications are by non Irish writers.
I'm especially taken by Kevin Hart's Dark Angel. This 42 year old poet, who grew up in London and Brisbane and now teaches at Melbourne's Monash University, writes with an arresting precision and clarity, and this slim volume (13 poems in all) is worth any discerning reader's time. This is number 10 in a series called Dedalus Editions; number 11 features work by two American poets, Kevin Bowen and Bruce Weigl, who served in Vietnam and write strikingly, and sometimes movingly, of their experiences there.
Meanwhile admirers of Thomas Kinsella will be very interested to learn that a new Kinsella book will be published by Dedalus in May. The latest volume in the continuing Peppercanister series devoted to the poet's work, this is called The Pen Shop and it consists of a long poem chronicling a walk from the GPO to The Pen Shop on Nassau Street. The publisher describes it as "a moving meditation on the city and its contemporary ills, reminiscent of Joyce and Auden but alive with Kinsella's special gift of detailed and wry observation, together with deep insights into our times.
Baggot Street Deserta meets Nightwalker 30 years on, perhaps? "A very special book," John F. Deane says; but then any new volume by Kinsella is that.
I see that Brid Ni Chuilinn has joined Town House publishers as their sales and marketing manager. Brid will be recalled as the genial face of the usually unsmiling Fred Hanna's, where she worked for almost 10 years as its knowledgeable and helpful overseer of Irish books.
I learn of this appointment from Town House's Treasa Coady, who also tells me that Deirdre Purcell has just signed up with Town House and Macmillan in London for another two books. Her new and, according to Treasa, "definitely very different" book is intriguingly titled Love Like Hate Adore and will be published in the autumn. (Incidentally, I read that in Britain she's to be marketed as D.M. Purcell - the writer formerly known as Deirdre, I suppose).
Treasa also has high hopes for Perfectly Natural, Rose Doyle's new book, with which Town House "are aiming to take a slice of the huge summer reading market", and she's positively thrilled by her latest find, the RTE producer Julie Parsons. With A Grain of Sand, Ms Parsons "has written an astonishing psychological thriller, and we believe that she can and will take on the very best and most successful authors in the world". Such confidence should have Ruth Rendell and Jonathan Kellerman quaking in their boots.
NUALA SMITH from Bray, who entered for the recent Image/Oil of Ulay Short Story Competition, felt a bit depressed by an announcement in the magazine that the competition had yielded no winners. Indeed, judges Clare Boylan, Polly Devlin and Jane McDonnell thought that a lot of the submitted stories "were a bit joyless and lifeless", and that those who entered "should go away and read the stories of William Trevor or Alice Munro" - and probably John McGahern and Raymond Carver, too, if truth be told.
Nuala has sent me her "joyless and lifeless" story to see if I agree with the judges, though I honestly don't think it's any of my business to do so - Clare, Polly and Jane were selected for that purpose, and they've had their say. (Anyway, having been on a Cork Film Festival panel for Best Irish Film that couldn't find any Irish film worthy of a prize, I approve of rigour in these matters). But she has also sent me a Supermilk essay competition form which declares "Someone has to win!" I think that's the one to enter, Nuala.
THOUGH he was born in 21 Westland Row, Oscar Wilde spent his youth in Number One Merrion Square, to which the family moved when he was a few months old. Every Dubliner knows that" - and knows, too, that the American College Dublin took over this magnificent corner house in 1994.
At that time the building, which had been unoccupied for a number of years, was in a serious state of disrepair, and while a good deal of work has since been done on it, a lot more needs to be accomplished if the house is to be restored to its original splendour.
Mary Monnhan of the American College tells me that in order to achieve this, a fund raising fashion show will be held in the Berkeley Court on March 13th next. In fact, two shows are scheduled, one at 11 a.m. and another at 7.30 p.m. The occasion is the unveiling of Thomas Wolfangel's spring/summer collection, and tickets are available from the American College, 2 Merrion Square or from Rita Hughes at Hughes & Hughes booksellers in the Stephen's Green Centre.