10. Several People are Typing: Calvin Kasulke
Writing a book based around Slack group chats and making them engaging is no easy feat, so Kasulke must be commended for this and making it look so easy. The characters are suitably two dimensional and this reflects in their self-obsessed views on the world that masquerade as hip talk. Every petty act (from bitching about office desks to speculating on the sex life of others) oozes bored frustration and makes their two-dimensional nature all too real.
9. Up Like a Bird - The Rise and Fall of an IRA Commander: Brendan Hughes/Douglas Dalby
It’s an entertaining, fast paced read that is more akin to a thriller as opposed to a serious political examination (then again, Hughes makes it clear throughout that he was a military man). Those with little to no knowledge of the conflict might actually find enough in here to start off an interest in Ireland’s past due to the writing style. Although it can lean towards exposition at times, it keeps the pace going and allows us a glimpse at how the hard-nosed, no-nonsense Hughes operated.
8. Mountains and Desire - Climbing vs. the End of the World: Margret Grebowicz
Running in under 100 pages, Mountains and Desire is a fascinating, gripping read which makes the reader seriously ponder the questions being asked and makes them think about issues that had probably never occurred to them. If anything, it could have been stretched out to another 100 pages (especially in regard to the link between the reduction of mountaineering to some kind of self-love bullshit sold to middle aged office workers).
7. Forever: Thomas Moore
When the narrator starts off by informing the reader that the text that is in front of them was the only alternative to suicide, you know that you’re dealing with a compelling narrative. Sometimes brutally honest, occasionally maudlin, but never boring, Forever is a novel that reduces sex and desire to rotating mechanisms, examines the differing facades of gay culture and how modern life makes loners of us all.
6. Grudge for Life - A Book About Ramleh: Richard Johnson
For the fans, it is an absorbing and inspiring read, especially when reading about and listening to Ramleh’s more recent works due to them being some of the most ambitious and exciting of their careers. However, when one considers Mundy’s ‘can do’ attitude and endless enthusiasm for the arts, it becomes apparent why this is the case, and it makes the reader want to create something after reading Grudge for Life.
5. All the Violent Memories: J.B Stevens
Short (only 26 pages) and sharp, this is a poetry collection that conveys the mundane horror of war and its impact on those who fight them. Its overall mood is one of post-traumatic stress, with hints of despair cutting through some of the more supposedly euphoric and knowing moments. One almost gets the feeling that the narrator could end up becoming a mass shooter, if pushed into unsavoury directions, adding an air of tension which only increases as the book continues.
4. History of Present Complaint: HLR
An intense read and an unsettling one, this is a full throttle, no prisoners taken look at depression and how it destroys souls as well as others trying to help. Elements of body horror, psychological torture and claustrophobia are present throughout the various episodes, which are written in a way which blur the boundaries between standard prose and experimental poetry (described as ‘prosetry’ on the back), while the narrator never once comes across as an unsympathetic character.
3. Soft Tissues: Zak Ferguson
Subtitled ‘An experiment’, it traces the steady decline of a world raved by pandemics, ailing establishments and nihilistic participants, hardened by a world where new-born babies are dumped on the motorway and cleared by a government approved motorway disposal unit. Told through a stream of conscience narrative, the ever-flowing imagery is harsh and unforgiving. One to hand to people when they want to understand how societal breakdown manifests itself in literature.
2. Bent for the Job: Mick Guffan
Little is known about Mick Guffan, who died in 2006. Born in Cork, he moved to London in his teenage years and worked as a builder. His poetry is a mix of observation, confession, unapologetic sexuality and bravado. This new anthology still has that uniquely London Irish melancholia running through it, but there is an added emphasis on the toil and grime of Guffan’s life and a knowing humour aimed at people who treat poetry as if the form was the equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
1. Tried in Ruin: Philip LoPresti
LoPresti gives us a protagonist who has a skill which he has had to use to help pay the bills, but is the furthest thing from a cool, calculated type. Knowing that he’s carrying out this task in the pursuit of a better life not only adds a tragic element to the tale, but also indicates to the reader how fragile this arrangement is. And when it collapses, especially when it becomes increasingly violent, it is akin to viewing a car crash: you know it’s coming, and you can’t tear your eyes away from it.
⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.
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