Gerald Dawe Boeken

A City Imagined  is a paean to the city of Belfast and its writers. Written in his highly regarded wry and lyrical style, Dawe’s memoir sketches the outlines of his life as he starts to understand the city in which he was born, before embracing some of the local writers whose early work had such an influential part in nudging him in the direction of writing— poets, in the main, whose first books were read with the enthusiasm of a young man beguiled by the language and music of poetry. Building on the critical acclaim of  In Another Van Morrison & Belfast  and  Looking Through You,  this third and final volume of the Northern Chronicles trilogy completes a fascinating and rich portrait of the celebrated poet’s tangled and ever-evolving relationship with his native city.

The Sound of the Shuttle is an eloquent and compelling selection of essays written over four decades by Belfast-born poet Gerald Dawe, exploring the difficult and at times neglected territory of cultural belonging and northern Protestantism. The title, taken from a letter of John Keats during a journey through the north-east in 1818, evokes the lives, now erased from history, of the thousands of workers in the linen industry, tobacco factories and shipyards of Belfast. Sketching in literary, social and political contexts to widen the frame of reference, Dawe offers fascinating insights into the current debate about a ‘New Ireland’ by bringing into critical focus the experiences, beliefs and achievements of a sometimes maligned and often misread community, generally referred to as Northern protestants. In making the telling point that ‘The jagged edges of the violent past are still locked within ideological vices’, The Sound of the Shuttle is an insightful and honest report based upon many years of creative and critical practice. This is an essential book for our changing times. 

Looking Through Northern Chronicles, the sequel to renowned Belfast poet and author Gerald Dawe’s critically acclaimed In Another Van Morrison and Belfast, is the evocative record of the musical, literary and artistic influences that inspired and forged Dawe’s awakening as a poet, and his career in Irish literature. Taking its bearings from Belfast in the 1960s, The Beatles’ Rubber Soul album and the energising shock of reading the great American poets Robert Lowell and Sylvia Plath, Dawe’s wry and engaging style has produced a telling record of the music, poetry and culture of growing up in the northern capital. Featuring the stunning photography of Euan Gëbler, this literary memoir is a must-have for fans of Dawe’s work, a superb introduction to his world for new readers, and, in his own words, may help ‘renew Belfast and the ordinary life and lives of the city, and allow its people to overcome as best they can the seemingly irreconcilable and unsolvable conflicts of the past’.

Exploring the contrasts between the northern and southern hemispheres, this work delves into the lives of characters shaped by their environments and cultural backgrounds. The narrative weaves together themes of identity, belonging, and the impact of nature on personal growth. Through vivid storytelling, it highlights the emotional landscapes of its protagonists, inviting readers to reflect on their own journeys and connections to place. Rich in imagery and insight, the book offers a profound exploration of the human experience across diverse settings.

Gerald Dawe delves into the concept of home as portrayed by notable Irish writers such as W. B. Yeats, Sean O'Casey, Derek Mahon, and Gail McConnell. Through a series of engaging readings, he unpacks the diverse interpretations and emotional resonance of home within their works, highlighting the cultural and personal significance it holds in Irish literature. This exploration offers insights into the complexities of identity and belonging in the context of Ireland's literary landscape.

Exploring five decades of engagement with Irish literature, Gerald Dawe shares insights from his experiences in academic settings and literary discussions. The book delves into the evolution of literary criticism and highlights the significance of political discourse in understanding Irish literary works. Through his reflections, Dawe offers a rich perspective on the interplay between literature and politics in Ireland, making it a valuable resource for scholars and enthusiasts alike.

In Another World is a unique trip through Belfast, mapped into the mystic through the timeless music of Van ‘the Man’ Morrison. The aptly soulful and inventive prose stems from the electric wit of acclaimed poet and fellow Belfast man, Gerald Dawe. Struck by the extraordinary brand of rhythm and blues that was Morrison’s brainchild, Dawe’s book is a celebration of the inspirations that underline Morrison’s music. Silhouetted in the work is Belfast, moody and vibrant, and the formative influence of the pre-Troubles northern capital on Morrison’s musical direction. Dawe’s writing transmutes the tender and unforgettable strains of Morrison’s work, from the release in 1968 of Astral Weeks to the publication in 2014 of Lit Up Selected Lyrics . A powerful tribute to mark Van Morrison’s accomplishments, In Another World taps into his legacy’s eclectic soul and is kin to its enchantments.

Balancing Acts gathers together interviews and conversations between Gerald Dawe and a wide cast of interlocutors between 1995 and 2020. Drawn from exchanges on television and radio, print and online media, these conversations with fellow poets, critics, journalists, colleagues and friends, are a testament to Dawe' s generous, open-hearted and open-minded approachability as a poet for whom the ' artful way of making' poetry has always been informed by an attitude of just ' getting on with it' . In the same way that memory, for him, is ' not just about the past' but involves ' a route into the present' , these fascinating interviews and conversations provide an insight into the poet on the go, in the process of making unforgettable poetry happen.

This collection brings together the best of Northern Irish playwright Stewart Parker’s literary prose and journalism. These writings showcase his anticipation and knowledge of the changing cultural conditions of theater life and play-making in the closing decades of the twentieth-century. Alongside this alert cosmopolitan sensibility, Parker’s experience of living in and through Belfast’s self-inflicted wounding made him keenly aware of what happens when politics fails to deliver a democratic answer to the contradictory beliefs of ordinary citizens. His innate skepticism about politics is etched herein with feisty and unambivalent vigor.