When Michael O'Neill senses 'gangs / of shadow' half-beckoning from twilit water, the moment is eerily alluring as well as scary. Fusions of feeling recur throughout a book that has something of the 'dash' and 'darkness' praised in 'Louis MacNeice', along with a strong responsiveness to the physical and visual experience of living. Formally adventurous and alert to change and movement, combining memorable phrasing with a reaching towards the unsayable, Gangs of Shadow brims with imagery of past, present and future; its poems 'seek to bear witness, and above all sing'.

About the Author
Michael O'Neill was born in Aldershot in 1953, and in 1960 moved to Liverpool. He read English at Exeter College, Oxford. Since 1979 he has lectured at Durham University, where he is a Professor of English. He co-founded and co-edited Poetry Durham from 1982 to 1994. His critical studies include The All-Sustaining Air (OUP, 2007), an exploration of Romantic poetry's influence on poets since 1900. He received an Eric Gregory Award in 1983 for his poetry and a Cholmondeley Award for Poets in 1990. His first collection The Stripped Bed, was published by Collins Harvill in 1990 and in 2008, Arc published his second collection, Wheel, to critical acclaim


Book Information
ISBN 9781906570828
Author Michael O'Neill
Format Hardback
Page Count 80
Imprint Arc Publications
Publisher Arc Publications
Weight(grams) 249g