So here it is, the big reveal!

This is my new poetry book, out at the end of January 2022, published by UK poetry stalwarts Hedgehog Poetry Press

The wonderfully abstract artwork on the cover was produced by my friend Sinéad Foley Coleman. The button bit references that old saying about how mothers are the buttons that hold a family together (really?!).

The poems are not about the demon drink, despite the title and a big image on the inside cover of Reilly’s Bar in Merrion Row, Dublin, when it was re-named in my honour.

(Oh, the irony! I’m not much of a drinker, really. I can sometimes be persuaded to take a glass of ginger wine or cream sherry, but  just the one, once a year, is about my limit! But the pub thing was great craic. Watch the video about it [here] – its only 40 seconds long, but it explains it all beautifully!)

Not booze, then. The ‘influence’ is that of my late mother. She’d have probably hated some of my poems, but hey ho! They are not all about her, as it happens.

There are 21 poems in total. This selection was commended in the Fool For Poetry Competition run here in Ireland by Munster Literature Centre. That all seems ages ago now. I entered the competition in August 2020, so you get the idea of how looooooong some of the poetry processes are when it comes to publication.

Anyway, I’m delighted this slim volume is finally on it’s way out into the world.

When I’ve figured the logistics, you will be able to buy this book, ‘signed by the author’, directly from me. Until then, you can order it as an e-book, or as a hard copy, direct from the publisher here. But it will not be available until Monday, January 24th 2022.

Until then, dear Reader, this is my opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!