Book description
Eye of the Hare affirms a spirituality for healing a shattered
world. In a richly textured collection, layered with Biblical echoes
and the music of the Psalms, John F. Deane explores the possibilities
of poetry to redress the failures of care towards the planet and the
needs of society. Deane revives the language of sacrament and
celebration with raw and tender grace; in sonnets, narratives and
lyrics Eye of the Hare advances towards redemption. In the book's
final section, Deane honours the places and landscapes of Achill, that
beautiful, demanding island off the west coast of Ireland.
'No other contemporary Irish poet, and few Irish writers, have
mastered the art of eloquent, impassioned expression as artistic
statement as beautifully as John F Deane. This is a major European
writer of conscience... In gravitas, sophistication and magisterial
urgency of intent, Deane looks to Kinsella and beyond him to Yeats.' -
Irish Times 'I read and re-read the music of John Deane: a fine poet for
our lives' divided seasons.' - Alison Brackenbury, Poetry Review John
F. Deane was born on Achill Island in 1943. He founded Poetry Ireland -
the National Poetry Society - and The Poetry Ireland Review in 1979. He
is the author of many collections of poetry and some fiction. His poetry
has been published in French, Bulgarian, Romanian, Italian and Swedish
translations. John F. Deane's prose works include two novels, In the
Name of the Wolf (Blackstaff Press, 1999), published in German
translation in 2001, Undertow (Blackstaff Press, 2002), and two
collections of short stories, The Coffin Master (2000) and The Heather
Fields (2005), both from Blackstaff Press. In 1996 Deane was elected
Secretary-General of the European Academy of Poetry. The recipient of
the O'Shaughnessy Award for Irish Poetry in 1998, and the Grand
International Prize for Poetry from Romania in 2000, John F. Deane was
given the prestigious Marten Toonder Award for Literature in 2001. His
poems in Italian, translated by Roberto Cogo, won the 2002 Premio
Internazionale di Poesia Citta di Marineo for the best foreign poetry of
the year. John F. Deane is a member of Aosdana.
