‘The poems in Frank Ormsby’s seventh collection, The Rain Barrel, treat familiar objects with a slant charm, giving them histories, personalities, and minds of their own…The cadences of Ormsby’s verse create a subtle music, and (though he rarely uses set forms in this collection) makes use of rhyme that brings out the distinct accent of his poetry.’ – Seán Hewitt, The Irish Times ‘In confronting Northern Ireland’s violent past amidst its seemingly idyllic setting, Ormbsy has successfully managed to convey not just the individual personal cost, but also the depth of the communal loss… This honest Ulsterman is not afraid to challenge us, but he also gives us comfort.’ - Emmanuel Touhey, The Irish Times His latest book, The Rain Barrel, has been hailed as containing some of his best work.’ - Damian Smyth, Belfast Telegraph (Best Books by Northern Irish Writers 2019) ‘One of the happiest events of the year was the elevation of Fermanagh poet Frank Ormsby to the post of Ireland Professor of Poetry. there are several poems about the disappeared, and he cannot leave them to be forgotten - I really admire him for that.' - Colm Keegan, speaking on RTE Radio 1's Arena (Poetry books of 2019) about The Rain Barrel ![]() 'The real surprise with Ormsby is that it's full of subtle provocation. Ormsby has just been named Ireland Professor of Poetry (2019-22), succeeding Eilean Ni Chuilleanain.’ – Gerald Dawe, The Lonely Crowd (Books of the Year 2019) ‘Frank Ormsby’s latest collection, The Rain Barrel, is one of his finest and follows on from a hugely creative few years – a volume of new and selected poems, Goat’s Milk (2015) and the complexly challenging The Darkness of Snow (2017) – both from Bloodaxe. Ormsby’s wit and humour, his sly sense of the absurd and what might be called his affection for the living and the dead draw the reader into considering the conviction that it is sometimes 'possible to believe / that joy grows irresistibly at the roots of everything'. The elegiac note that echoes through the poems rarely darkens the mood. Among the personae of the collection is the obliging father who volunteers to be buried by his children up to the neck in sand within sight of but some distance from the 'cold shadow of the mountain'. Here too the content is often delivered and reinforced through rich, contrasting images within or between poems: the scarlet flowers growing in a black kettle, the fuchsia that is both 'redolent of old battles' or a 'peaceful tapestry in the annals of stone'. ![]() Ormsby continues to make vivid use of the short, resonant poems which were a striking feature of Goat's Milk and The Darkness of Snow. Close to the surface of mountain and bogland lie the hidden graves of the 'Disappeared'. Frank Ormsby's seventh collection of poems reflects not only the beauty of the Irish landscape and the sensuous and aesthetic impact of the small farms among which he grew up, but also the continuing violence of the 'Troubles'.
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