Lark Water

"Like its title, the poems in Lorna Shaughnessy's wonderful new collection encompass flow and flight. Drawing on dream and story, they dodge nothing of the turbulence and grit of a life in full flow. Here are poems of extraordinary tenderness, as an elderly parent endures his last months -- my boy-sized father, pupa in cocoon. And, albeit hard-won, here is exhaltation at the turn of a year scarred by loss as, even one thread/can become the first in a weave/that sparks a multi-coloured paisley/with blazing tongues of Zoroastrian fire." - MOYA CANNON

"Lorna Shaughnessy's distinctive voice weaves narrative and translation, memory and imagination in this wonderful, rich collection of poems. Whether reflecting on nature, or on personal loss, or on birth ritual in Tudor England - she envelops the reader in the intensity of the experience and its emotional repercussions. In poem after poem, phrases leap from the page and into the mind - and when you've finished, you want to go back and start again. Lark Water is a remarkable achievement from a poet moving from strength to strength. I cannot recommend it highly enough." - MOYRA DONALDSON

"There is a lucent quality about Lorna Shaughnessy's work, a clear-sighted and intelligent sensitivity that is immediately appealing, and which is matched by her skill and craft. The poetry of Lark Water is blessed with the integrity of language and feeling which is necessary for true poetry. A pietas here towards presences such as that of her father, to whose memory the book is dedicated, Lorca, W.S. Merwin, the painter Gerry Davis as well as the Hispanic world, rings true and confident. Poems such as 'Sky Lullaby' and 'Dallying' are simply wonderful exemplars from many more in this very fine collection. I highly recommend it." - PADDY BUSHE