"I don't think that any of my poems need an introduction."
I get most enjoyment from listening to a poet talk about the written work and the work in progress: why a poem was written, the spark that ignited the vision, the snatch of overheard conversation, the incident that retrieves a past memory, the choice of words and imagery, the simple scene transformed, the need to be a witness.
"Awakening is a collection of mostly anecdotal poems from incidences in the varied and interesting life of Pat Mullan, the Irish, sometimes American, poet from Connemara.
Some of these poems charm the pants off you, as a leprechaun might if the pockets of the pants were filled with gold. I'm thinking of "Reincarnation," where a tobacco-puffing sea captain may have returned as a wagtail named Perky.
And some of them awaken you to the heavy realities of the Twentieth Century and beyond. Here I'm thinking of "Uijongbu," with its Korean setting and Boots, Boots, Boots tramping the reaches of empire. "Uijongbu" is particularly interesting for the rhythmic prosody of its free verse. Indeed, most of these poems are in free verse, expressive, almost conversational, but with an Irish lilt in the voice.
Awakening is filled with very sharable poems. They display the serious mind and generous personality of a poet worth spending time with. Enjoying many a few with Pat Mullan would make for an interesting and poetic afternoon. After such an afternoon, I should undoubtedly wish for another, as I also anticipate PM's next collection of poems." E.M. Schorb
E.M.Schorb, award winning author and poet: winner of The Frankfurt Grand Prize in fiction for his novel, Paradise Square; 1973 International Keats Poetry Prize; Verna Emery Poetry Prize for Murderer's Day, his fourth collection of poetry (Purdue University Press). E. M. Schorb's new novel, Fortune Island, was published in June 2009.
About the Author
Pat Mullan was born in Ireland and has lived in England, Canada and the USA. Formerly a banker, he now lives in Connemara, in the west of Ireland.
He has published articles, poetry and short stories in magazines such as Buffalo Spree, Tales of the Talisman, Writers Post Journal. His short story, Galway Girl, was short-listed for the WOW Awards and was published in the new WOW Magazine in Galway in April 2010. It is also one of his short stories that form part of his GALWAY NOIR anthology, available on-line from iPulp Fiction.ipulpfiction.com/books/GalwayNoir03-GalwayGirl/jacketNotes.php
Recent work has appeared in the anthology, DUBLIN NOIR, published in the USA by Akashic Books and in Ireland and the UK byBrandon Books and again in 'City-Pick DUBLIN', published by Oxygen Books in 2010 to mark Dublin being chosen as UNESCO'S City of Culture for 2010.
His first novel, The Circle of Sodom, received two nominations: one for Best First Novel and one for Best Suspense Thriller at the 2005 Love Is Murder conference in Chicago. His novels Blood Red Square, Last Days of the Tiger andCreatures of Habitare now available on-line at Amazon and as ebooks Kindle, Nook and elsewhere. New thriller coming soon: Screwed.
He is Ireland Chair of International Thriller Writers, Inc. and he is a member of Mystery Writers of America.
Pat Mullan was born in Ireland and has lived in England, Canada and the USA. He is a graduate of St. Columb's College, Northwestern University and the State University of New York. Formerly a banker, he now lives in Connemara, in the west of Ireland.
He has published articles, poetry and short stories in magazines such as Buffalo Spree, Tales of the Talisman, Writers Post Journal. His poetry appears frequently in the Acorn E-zine of the Dublin Writers Workshop. His short story, Galway Girl, was short-listed for the WOW Awards and was published in the new WOW Magazine in Galway in April 2010. It is also one of his short stories that form part of his GALWAY NOIR anthology, available on-line from iPulp Fiction.
He has two collections of poetry available on-line, Childhood Hills and Awakening. James Dickey's Poetry: The Religious Dimension is his elegy to Dickey and is available on-line on Amazon Kindle.
Recent work has appeared in the anthology, DUBLIN NOIR, published in the USA by Akashic Books and in Ireland and the UK by Brandon Books and again in 'City-Pick DUBLIN', published by Oxygen Books in 2010 to mark Dublin being chosen as UNESCO'S City of Culture for 2010.
His first novel, The Circle of Sodom, received two nominations, one for Best First Novel and one for Best Suspense Thriller, at the 2005 Love Is Murder conference in Chicago. His second novel, Blood Red Square, was published in the US in 2005 and a new edition, published in 2011, is now available on-line as a paperback and as an ebook. His latest novels, Last Days of the Tiger and Creatures of Habit are now available on-line as ebooks on Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook, Kobo, and elsewhere; they are also available in paperback.
He is Ireland Chair of International Thriller Writers, Inc. and he is a member of Mystery Writers of America.
There's no way that one can grow up in Ireland without being surrounded by writers. Everybody writes! And, if they don't, they tell stories. The Celtic oral tradition is alive and well. When I was a little boy in our country farmhouse home, people (neighbors, friends, strangers) would come in of an evening, sit around the fire, and tell stories till the 'wee hours' of the morning. Later Irish writers: James Joyce, John McGahern, Brian Moore, Brendan Behan, Oscar Wilde, Sean O'Casey - and today there's so many, starting with my old schoolmate, Seamus Heaney, and others such as Roddy Doyle. Of course my favorite read is the thriller and I love Irish thriller writers such as Jack Higgins and Victor O'Reilly.But I must not leave out my favorite American writers and there are so many of them: Hemingway, Steinbeck, O'Connor, Clancy, James T. Farrell, and many more. I've been scared by Dean Koontz and by Stephen King and Evan Kingsbury ( whom you may know better as Robert W. Walker, author of the INSTINCT and the EDGE series ) and I've laughed out loud in bed reading Carl Hiaasen. Lately I've been reading my favorite Irish author, Ken Bruen. At College I read the great Russian writers, such as Turgenev and Tolstoy and began a whole new love affair. I suppose every writer that I read has influenced me. I believe that if one wants to (has to) write, one must read, read, read ...
MY WRITING DAY
I'm a morning person so I do try to write every morning - even if it's just scribbled thoughts for my next poem. I do find that I'm more driven when I'm half way into a novel. The story and the characters take over and, if other matters permit, I just lose the sense of time. When that happens, I can write just as readily in the middle of the day or in the evening as I can in the morning. If I go somewhere in the car and I know I will have to kill some time waiting for something or someone, I'll take my briefcase along and use it to jot notes, plot, write, etc. I have three distinct briefcases, one for my poetry, one for my short stories, and one that contains the flotsam and jetsam of my current novel in progress. As you can imagine, they are all overflowing, some more organized than others. But, in a sense, I'm always writing in my head even when I'm gardening or mowing the lawn... and some of my best novel setpieces come right out of my dreams. I always keep a notebook on my bedside table for those special dream segments that I happen to remember upon waking. In many ways one must be disciplined and set a writing schedule but one shouldn't be deluded into thinking that that will produce the best or most creative output. Less structure and more development of the writerly mind creates a consciousness that is pervasive. Then writing in all its manifestation covers the entire day.
This review is from: Awakening: New and Selected Poems (Paperback)
AWAKENING
by
PAT MULLAN
Awakening is a collection of mostly anecdotal poems from occurrences in the varied and interesting life of Pat Mullan, the Irish, sometimes American, poet from Connemara. Some of these poems charm the pants off you, as a leprechaun might if the pockets of the pants were filled with gold. I'm thinking of "Reincarnation," where a tobacco-puffing sea captain may have returned as a wagtail named Perky, who
once lived
in this house of ours
we still smell his tobacco
at the bottom of the stairs
And some of them awaken you to the heavy realities of the Twentieth Century and beyond. Here I'm thinking of "Uijongbu," with its Korean setting and Boots, Boots, Boots tramping the reaches of empire. "Uijongbu" is particularly interesting for the rhythmic prosody of its free verse. Indeed, most of these poems are in free verse, expressive, almost conversational, but with an Irish lilt in the voice.
Awakening is filled with very sharable poems. They display the serious mind and generous personality of a poet worth spending time with. Enjoying many a few with Pat Mullan would make for an interesting and poetic afternoon. After such an afternoon, I should undoubtedly wish for another, as I also anticipate PM's next collection of poems.
E.M. Schorb
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