Fortnight Publications Ltd.

The Selected Padraic Fiacc by Padraic FiaccReview by: Andrew SavageFortnight, No. 173 (Oct. - Nov., 1979), p. 22Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25546750 .

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22/Fortnight

is of definition. Thus Ormsby writes that a case could be made for the inclusion of Patrick Kavanagh,

whereas I would have thought a

stronger case would be required for his exclusion. Or would this be a case of the 'Northern Ireland problem' influencing poetry anthologies?

In a fair minded, if at times rather

sketchy introduction, Ormsby devotes a paragraph to each of the poets included, but is reluctant to be drawn

on wider or theoretical questions, and one wonders if the book is intended to introduce Northern poetry to the classroom as well as to the general readers mentioned in the preface.

There is no more than a passing hint, for instance, that the belated

emergence of a Catholic middle-class in the sixties might have contributed to the flowering of poetry in that decade, and while there is fortunately no suggestion that recent poetry is a direct result of civil unrest, the

anthology might have benefitted from some discussion of the relationship between the poems and the place which is, after all, responsible for their

being together between these covers. These few reservations aside,

however, Poets from the North of Ireland is undoubtedly the best book of its kind to have appeared so far, and is likely to remain so for quite a while. In general, Frank Ormsby has

completed his balancing act success

fully, and the result is a book which attests to the many diverse themes and

styles of the Ulster poets. It is also, by the way, a fine production, and the cover photograph, although I'm not sure why, seems entirely appropriate.

+ + + + + Another recent Blackstaff poetry book is A Watching Brief by Roy

McFadden. In fact, the book was

published earlier this year, and is now

republished in slightly different form, for reasons best known to Mr.

McFadden. Unfortunately, space does not permit the thorough notice that this senior Ulster poet's work deserves.

In one of his poems in Poets from the North of Ireland, 'First Letter to an Irish Novelist', which is dedicated to Michael McLaverty, McFadden

writes, 'you pursue/Survival in minute

particulars'. This phrase may be

applied aptly to his own poems in this new collection.

Those who enjoy McFadden's work in Frank Ormsby's anthology will find the same concern with everyday places and people in these fastidious and sincere poems.

Roy McFadden A Watching Brief

(Blackstaff Press, ?1.94) DOUGLAS MARSHALL

Padraic Fiacc The Selected Padraic Fiacc

(Blackstaff Press, ?2.75) Padraic Fiacc may be best known to most readers for his anthology of Ulster poetry about the troubles, The

Wearing of the Black. Like his own recent collections, that book threw down a challenge to more conven

tional verse (and local verse tends to be more conventional than most). Bitter, often crude and incoherent, it engaged itself directly with the violence on our streets and insisted that this must be so for a poet in Northern Ireland. It seemed to say that the suffering was so acute that there wasn't time to transform the experience into highly

wrought artefact, and that if this resulted in images of painful horror, it was being true to what was

happening, and at least was not

diminishing the suffering by making it subservient to the 'lesser' concern of

poetry. Now Blackstaff have published a

selection from the whole of Fiacc's work, and his current style and subject matter can be seen in the context of his earlier poems. Surprisingly to

anyone familiar only with the later books, these deal with nature, art and

creativity in a gentle, traditionally 'Gaelic' vein, though with a leanness

not always associated with Celtic

Twilight. In his Introduction to this present

book, Terence Brown of Trinity College Dublin makes a good case for

seeing Fiacc's work as a whole,

pointing out how from the start his concern has been for immediacy, the

transparent expression of sensations and emotions in such a way that the

writing does not form a barrier between them and the reader.

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(Queen's University English Society will be presenting readings by Roy McFadden and Padraic Fiacc, and some of the writers in Frank Ormsby's selection, on Thursdays in October and November. See the Arts Council advertisement on page 24.)

Perhaps Brown could have made more of Fiacc's American experience (though born, and later resident here for many years, Fiacc spent some time in New York) for his current work

especially is reminiscent of the modes of American poets more than of those of British or Irish ones: later Lowell, where the writer becomes his own

subject, Sylvia Plath in her extremism, John Berryman

. . .

In the earlier poems one finds subtleties of rhythm one didn't look for in the later books, though Fiacc's line-breaks and spacing can be fussy and confusing, the same rather American concern for suggestiveness that runs the risk of vagueness, the same tendencies to fracture syntax and to overload the line with

percussive alliteration and assonance. There are too many slacknesses here for a selection, but there are also

moments of genuine poignancy, vividness and felicity.

Not so long ago, Blackstaff

published a book of James Simmons's

poems, selected by Edna Longley. Without comparing the two in any other way, Simmons and Fiacc may be similar as writers whose writing seeks to serve a purpose larger than their

writing. As such, they may lack the ruthlessness that can throw out an

unsuccessful piece even though it

expresses strongly held belief. This sort of selection can therefore help to

clarify their achievements. Fiacc has suffered personal losses,

and has been closer, physically and

perhaps also emotionally, to the terrible events of the decade than most other poets. Whatever one thinks of his work qua poetry, he cannot be dismissed lightly. His stance is to be

respected for its courage, directness and honesty, and his writing asks

questions of other poets that must be

answered, whether or not his

pronouncements about it are wrong headed and tend to deflect attention that could be paid to the verse itself.

Terence Brown, in his Introduction, and Blackstaff Press, in their

pleasantly produced and timely publication, have served Fiacc well. This is yet another Blackstaff book that is required reading for anyone interested in local poetry.

ANDREW SAVAGE

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