Maura Dooley's Five Fifty-Five reviewed in The Irish Times
'Dooley's infinitely delicate poems behave "shyly" but never lose their balance on her tightrope of fine connections.' – Martina Evans, The Irish Times, on Five Fifty-Five
Five Fifty-Five is Maura Dooley's sixth collection, her first book since The Silvering (2016). It was published in April 2023 by Bloodaxe Books. A video of Maura's joint launch reading is below.
These are quizzical poems concerned with time and mortality which ask fundamental questions about our lives, such as Where have you gone? and Who were you anyway? She tries to find out through conversations with, among others, Louisa M. Alcott, Hokusai, Jane Austen, Buzz Aldrin, Anne Tyler and the Great Uncle and Grandfather she never knew.
Maura Dooley was born in Truro, grew up in Bristol, worked for some years in Yorkshire, and has lived in London for the past 30 years. Her family background in Ireland and Wales has long been central to her work. Her translation of the work of exiled Iranian poet Azita Ghahreman, Negative of a Group Photograph, was co-published by Bloodaxe Books and the Poetry Translation Centre in October 2018. Maura regularly gives readings and also runs workshops and poetry courses.
ONLINE REVIEW COVERAGE
London Grip, online 30 June 2023
Maura Dooley’s new collection Five Fifty-Five was given an excellent and very detailed review online at London Grip on 30 June 2023.
'I feel that the special gift of all the writing in Five Fifty-Five is to refresh and heighten our perceptions. Dooley’s talent for metaphor gives her writing imaginative drive in a very obvious way. More elusively, her poetry’s enchanting of the world depends on an indefinable rightness, beauty, evocativeness in the very sound and flow of her lines, and on her tact in surrounding words with pauses and breathing spaces within which the reader’s own thoughts can grow.' – Edmund Prestwich, London Grip
Read the full in-depth review in London Grip here.
US REVIEW COVERAGE
(US distribution from 4 July 2023 via Consortium Books)
Publishers’ Weekly, 13 April 2023
Maura Dooley’s new collection Five Fifty-Five was very well reviewed in Publishers’ Weekly ahead of US distribution in July 2023.
‘Sonically elegant and rich with memorable descriptions and images, the latest from Dooley (after The Silvering) explores the past, mortality, and the silences and omissions that invite deeper reflection on the page… Commanding and quietly layered, these lyrically precise and subtle poems deserve revisiting.’ – Maya C. Popa, Publishers' Weekly
Read the review online here.
POETRY BOOK OF THE MONTH FEATURE ON BBC RADIO 4 EXTRA's POETY EXTRA
Poetry Extra, BBC Radio 4 Extra, Poetry Extra Book of the Month, Sunday 9 July 2023, 6am, 11am, 5pm & Monday 10 July, 12am
Daljit Nagra, host of Poetry Extra, has introduced a new monthly feature to the programme. Alongside rebroadcasting programmes from the BBC poetry archive, he will also read and introduce poems from recently-published collections. His inaugural Poetry Book of the Month choice was Maura Dooley’s new collection Five Fifty-Five. He chose to read the poem ‘Mayday in Ravenna’ from the collection, and spoke about that poem as well as about Maura Dooley's work more generally.
'Five Fifty-Five has a sustained set of tender lyrics that work their charm by focusing on moments that leap to gather greater consequence with effortless ease.' – Daljit Nagra
‘Daljit also shares a favourite, recently published poetry collection and reads a poem from it. This month's Poetry Extra Book of the Month is: Five Fifty-Five by Maura Dooley.’
The programme is no longer available on BBC Sounds, but details are here (from 29:18).
ONLINE LAUNCH EVENT
Bloodaxe Books international poetry online launch event (April 2023 book launch)
Maura Dooley read alongside Harry Clifton and Matthew Hollis as all three poets launched their new Bloodaxe collections. After their readings, they discussed their books with each other and with Bloodaxe editor Neil Astley. Maura Dooley read second in each set.
[06 July 2023]
