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A Herring Famine
A Herring Famine | Adam O'Riordan
6 posts | 4 read | 4 to read
The poems of this dazzling second collection are of contradictory impulses: of abundance and famine, of absence and presence, of endings and new beginnings. Here again are the clever, elegant, emotionally potent poems that are Oe(tm)Riordane(tm)s trademark, yet with this collection he also takes us to starker, grittier places that push into bolder territories, from the Herring Famine of 1944 to the Strangeways Prison Riot of 1990. Bounding place and time, and urging into being the living and the dead, this remarkable and crystalline collection captures the struggle, folly and wonder of the human heart.
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jhod
A Herring Famine | Adam O'Riordan
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Thanks so much @RachelO ! Lovely #bookmail to come home to. And I love the postcard too! Why is it suddenly so cold?! Was lovely and sunny in the Lakes!

rockpools I know! I've been considering socks all day😱 (not a fan of socks!) Glad it arrived safely- and v glad the Lakes were sunny x 7y
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review
rockpools
A Herring Famine | Adam O'Riordan
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Mehso-so

My February #poetrychallenge2018 read, & one I'd been really looking forward to but didn't love.

Some of the more personal poems worked better for me - The Boundary Line, in memory of a friend who had passed, or The Good Neighbour, witnessing the decline of an addict.

Many of the poems relate to fascinating news stories, but they confused me! As snapshots, I wanted strong storytelling or emotion or language... I ended up Googling the stories.

rockpools I think this might be another where I'm just the wrong reader for the book. 7y
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rockpools
A Herring Famine | Adam O'Riordan
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I won't finish my #poetrychallenge2018 book for Feb on time, so here's the thing.

The poems? They're just not getting me. I feel nothing. It sounds like there might be an interesting story in there, but I'm not getting it. So I hit Google, find the story, and it's full-on AMAZING! Back to the poem, because maybe I feel differently now. Nope. Still nothing.

Source material=awesome (eg this is a global database of birdsong 💖); poems just ok.

rockpools Hey @Natasha.C.Barnes - hope you're doing ok. We miss you! 7y
56 likes1 comment
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rockpools
A Herring Famine | Adam O'Riordan
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I seem to be wanting to love this more than I'm actually loving it. Bother. 🐟

blurb
rockpools
A Herring Famine | Adam O'Riordan
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This is going to be my February read for #poetrychallenge2018.

So far it feels almost like short stories in poem form, and I've been introduced to Sunny Lowry, the first British woman to swim the channel - I can't find many of O'Riordan's poems online, but here's Sunny Lowry's story: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_Lowry

@Natasha.C.Barnes

review
SavidgeReads
A Herring Famine | Adam O'Riordan
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Pickpick

Loved this collection. I don't always 'get' poems but felt like I got almost every single one. Loved the breadth and variety of his poems, the story telling within them and the sense of northern lilt throughout... just my cup of tea. I'll be rereading this often.

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