Coming Home to Russia [signed]

Durcan, Paul. Going Home to Russia. Belfast and Wolfeboro. The Blackstaff Press, 1987. 13 cm x 19.5 cm. 102 pages. Original Softcover. Excellent condition with only very minor signs of external wear. Clean inside with solid binding. Includes the following poems: Six Nuns Die in Convent Inferno / The Rape of Europa / The Beckett at the Gate / Going Home to Russia etc. Paul Durcan (born 16 October 1944) is a contemporary Irish poet...Durcan's main published collections include: A Snail in my Prime, Crazy About Women, Greetings to Our Friends in Brazil and Cries of an Irish Caveman. He appeared on the 1990 Van Morrison album Enlightenment, giving an idiosyncratic vocal performance on the song, 'In The Days Before Rock'n'Roll', which he also co-wrote. In 2003, he published a collection of his weekly addresses to the nation, Paul Durcan's Diary, on RTÉ Radio 1 programme Today with Pat Kenny. He was shortlisted in 2005 for the Poetry Now Award for his collection, The Art of Life. In 2009, he was conferred with an honorary degree by Trinity College, Dublin. In 2011 Durcan was conferred with an honorary doctorate from University College Dublin. Between 2004-2007 Durcan was the third Ireland Professor of Poetry. Durcan is a member of Aosdána. (Wikipedia) Paul Durcan's last collection of poetry, The Berlin Wall Cafe, was a triumphant bestseller. Now, in Going Home to Russia, Durcan is at the height of his powers, pushing his talent even further to work in the world. Fans will recognise their hero in this collection - his zany wit and startling verbal agility brought to bear against all that is complacent, hypocritical and fear-making in his own society - but he does more than break icons. These poems successfully carry the tenderest, most vulnerable and vital human values into the arena of international politics and perceptions. At the climax of the collection reality and symbol are powerfully fused in poems th..