The Oracle Room by Fred Johnston
Extract (Download)
In this gracefully written book, Fred Johnston reminds us of an Ireland “Before the coming of the condom” where abuse was kept silent. It is no wonder, then, that he is scathing about poets and poetry whose “middle name is Silence”, where “No poet worth a travel-grant/ Dare sound the warning bells”.
Praise for Johnston’s poetry
Fred Johnston is not such a poet. He makes his choice “in the uttered word” and writes formally and “prayerfully” of a world he has created in “The sound of the miraculous/ Break[ing] like a wave over the ordinary”. In a world whose poetry is largely forgettable, this volume stands as a reminder of what poetry can be.
Gabriel Fitzmaurice.
