Bradshaw Books is committed to promoting literature to people of all backgrounds. Established in 1985, for over two decades it has published the work of both established and emerging writers.
ISBN: 978-1-905374-28-1
Paperback: 56 pages
Price: €10 (+ P&P)
White Space is Cliona O’Connell’s first collection of poetry. Cliona won the 2011 Bradshaw Books Cork Literary Review Poetry Manuscript Competition.
White Space, a first collection of poetry by Cliona O’Connell, was the winner of the Cork Literary Review Poetry Manuscript Competition 2011. Taking inspiration from the idea of ‘empty space’ from which creation emerges, a place that is sparse and voluminous, the poems are meditations on and investigations of internal and external landscapes. Personal encounters with the natural world are the starting point of many of the poems, and though the consolation they bring is a salve, it’s not the panacea in the shaping of a fragile existence.
From the defining lyricism of Forgetting, to the silent grief of Dinner With Old Friends on the Summer Solstice, O’Connell has created a collection, personal and arresting with its combination of striking imagery, wit and innovation.
‘…a very Muldoonish use and play with language… These poems use language well and are witty with some striking images.’ Jean O’Brien, poet
“Cliona O’Connell is a new voice in poetry, a voice both subtle and familiar… she arrests the passing world with an unerring emotional attentiveness. Here is modern, relaxed versecraft, laden with feelings as deep as ‘Fado’ and wit as sharp as ‘Damselfly.’ Thomas McCarthy
