Selected Poems

A major voice of twentieth-century Irish poetry, Austin Clarke reshaped the country's literary landscape through his groundbreaking translations from the Irish and his revival of Irish-language metres and forms - work that continues to influence poets today and remains among the best-loved poems in Ireland.

This new selection brings Clarke into vivid focus as a poet of 'other voices', reaching across time and place to recover what history tried to silence. Once censored for his fearless critique of the Catholic state, Clarke's writing is marked by piercing, clear narrative and satire. As vital and enduring as Patrick Kavanagh, Thomas Kinsella, or Seamus Heaney, this lifetime's work presents a continually shrewd perspective on Irish literary history.