Maiden Names, Martin Dyar's debut poetry collection, introduces a writer already widely heralded as a major Irish literary talent. Maiden Names won the Patrick Kavanagh Award, was chosen as a book of the year in The Guardian and The Irish Times and was shortlisted for both the Pigott Poetry Prize and the Shine / Strong Award. In 2013, Martin Dyar was awarded a residency on the International Writing  Program at The University of Iowa. 

Martin Dyar's exploration of his West of Ireland roots and his adeptness with monologue forms draws the reader into a world of vision distinguished by a fusing of rich lyricism with lived experience, humour and humane feeling. Against a backdrop of Irish landscapes and wildlife, his poetic characters express the strange but fundamental  truths of their lives, while also, ultimately, speaking for the truth of poetry itself.  

Condition: New paperback