Micheal O'Siadhail

For twenty years Micheal O’Siadhail’s beloved wife, Bríd, suffered from Parkinson’s disease. These love poems chronicle the last two years of her life, her death and his grief. In Love Life, now available again in his Collected Poems, he told their story of over three decades of marriage. In this sonnet sequence their love faces illness and death and sounds the depths of parting. There is a tenderness, intensity and gratitude which will resonate with those who know both love and loss.

‘O’Siadhail seems to rise to a new intensity of writing and analysis in this collection.  This is both a searing and a beautiful interrogation…it offers immense compassion and consolation.’ – Martyn Halsall, Church Times (Christmas Books 2015)

‘This is poetry that is deeply human and accessible, beautifully observed, honest and technically controlled.’ – Francis Phillips, Catholic Herald

‘This is an extraordinary collection; a portrait of love and of a poet’s immortal faithfulness.’ -  Thomas McCarthy, Irish Examiner [on One Crimson Thread]

‘I read slowly, carefully and with deep emotion One Crimson Thread. It is a beautiful, beautiful but terribly sad poem of love.’ – Jean Vanier

' ...they're the most beautiful poems, so I'd recommend them to anybody...a wonderful, wonderful book. It’s called One Crimson Thread.' – Rob Cowan, speaking on BBC Radio 3’s Breakfast

Micheal O'Siadhail reads two poems

Micheal O'Siadhail reads two poems, 'Between' and 'Transit', from his Collected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2013). This film is from the DVD-book In Person: 30 Poets filmed by Pamela Robertson-Pearce, edited by Neil Astley, which includes five poems from his Collected Poems read by Micheal O'Siadhail. 

North America: Baylor University Press

Ireland & EU: Click here to order from Books Upstairs in Dublin