Burnfort, Las Vegas - Softcover

"She is at once emotional and shrewd: hidden behind the rich lace-curtain of her personal charm, her existentialism sings."--Thomas McCarthy "Martina Evans's poems are a miracle, for the way they combine total clarity with profundity: the way the apparently innocent and observant humour of their narrative surface covers a compassion and understanding that are often heartbreaking and heartbroken."-- Bernard O'Donoghue

Martina Evans's fifth collection moves from the impact of American culture and rock'n'roll in the 1960s on her home town, a small Catholic community in rural Ireland, to life in contemporary London. Her poems spring from memories, anecdotes of local characters, children's books, shoes and cats; finally they revisit her Burnfort schooldays in sharp, truthful and often funny poems. Her poems will appeal to all who enjoy her unique blend of poetry and storytelling, her astute mimicry of conversational styles and her gift for offbeat humour.