This is Yarrow

Bergin Tara

The poems in Tara Bergin's debut collection combine sensuous, supple lyricism with the unsettling familiarity of folklore, fairytale and dream. They are inhabited by characters who seem at first widely different from one another, yet share nervous energy, a troubled state of mind: "I am unwell, little crow, / I am unwell and far from home / where longing lives in my house". In "This is Yarrow" Bergin gathers language from a wide range of sources and places to create a music and vision entirely her own.

About the Author

Tara Bergin was born and grew up in Dublin. She moved to England in 2002. In 2012 she completed her PhD research at Newcastle University on Ted Hughes's translations of Janos Pilinszky.

Reviews

"[...] Bergin succeeds in creating a clear voice and a dramatic situation. This is Yarrow is primarily a book of monologues, establishing voices whose skewed attitudes invite an engaged critical response from the reader. The monologues are sometimes reminiscent of Paul Durcan and at other times Sylvia Plath and they can be very cutting and funny at the expense of their speakers [...]" – John McAuliffe, Irish Times

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