Mailbox Monday #718

Mailbox Monday has become a tradition in the blogging world, and many of us thank Marcia of The Printed Page for creating it.

It now has its own blog where book bloggers can link up their own mailbox posts and share which books they bought or which they received for review from publishers, authors, and more.

Emma, Martha, and I also will share our picks from everyone’s links in the new feature Books that Caught Our Eye. We hope you’ll join us.

Here’s what I received:

Lilies on the Deathbed of Étaín and Other Poems by Oisin Breen for review.

“Oisin Breen is writing at a pitch few other poets of his generation can muster. The dynamism and control of register, rhetoric, rhythm, is consistently a marvel. These are tremendously exciting poems. The work here is strange and startling – you are never sure where you are, or what is coming next. The poems stretch on to widen the possibilities of what a poem can be. Yet there is a grounded authenticity and emotional surge to the writing. They sweep you up in their flow, in their swerves, in their arch playfulness, in their abrupt intensity. The effect is invigorating and deeply affecting. Lose yourself in these poems and you will not forget it.”

– Alan Gillis, Poet, and Professor of Modern Poetry at Edinburgh University.

“Oisín Breen’s collection honours the tradition of Irish poetry. He weaves lyrical beauty through mythology and nature, presenting compelling poems which are both intelligent and emotionally charged. A powerful and intense use of language challenges and delights. Breen harnesses the craft of imagery to impressive effect.”–Róisín Ní Neachtain, poet, artist, and editor Crow of Minerva.

Refugees in their own country by Sunayna Pal for review.

75 verses, on the 75th anniversary of Partition, provides a chariot for anyone, across generations, who wishes to step into Sunayna Pal’s time machine and experience those lost moments, painful moments, moments of truth, which she has magically recreated.

“This is an evocative and energetic collection of poems. It takes the reader through a trajectory of Partition events and experiences. If one wants, many of the poems can be linked to the events of Partition, but they also carry the emotional weight and understanding of what Partition would mean to all of us from South Asia.” –Dr Amrita Shodhan, faculty Partition studies at School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

What did you receive?