Petrol

"A drama in anti-prosody, an interior female poetry of Cork life; here the world turns upon a pub, a petrol pump and an impossible love . . . a world is transfixed by personal drama, by epiphanies in bars and Icebergs, Aztecs and Bloody Marys creating a kind of alcoholic, consumerist birdlife that sings above the human drama. Evans' imagination is a unique one, darting, flitting, resonating with personal and poetic voices. As a poet she is one of a kind and brilliant."--Thomas McCarthy But I can't believe Justin would confide in you, Agnes said. But, you are the one Justin said under the lilac tree, you are the one to make Clodagh feel at home with your books and your love of flowers. I started watering the geraniums and straight away they were pointing their buds at me. In this prose poem disguised as a novella, thirteen-year-old Imelda thinks she's killed her mother by wishing she was dead. She doesn't want to wish the same fate on Justin, her mercurial and controlling twice-widowed father, owner of McConnell's bar, shop, and gas station. When Imelda's older sisters Bertha and Agnes disapprove of Justin's new fiancée, Justin elevates Imelda to the position of temporary favorite. Nobody including Imelda herself can believe her luck will last since Agnes is his true favorite. Besides, Justin can't stand Imelda's admirer, Danny Boy, her sisters are jealous, and Neily Sheehan, owner of the rival JFK Bar, is waiting for his chance to bring Justin down.

Martina Evans: Martina Evans was born in 1961, the youngest of ten children, and grew up in County Cork. After training as a radiographer in Dublin she moved to London in 1988. Her first collection of poems, The Inniscarra Bar and Cycle Rest, appeared in 1995 and was followed by three further collections, All Alcoholics are Charmers, Can Dentists Be Trusted? and Facing the Public. She teaches Creative Writing at the City Literary Institute. She is also the author of three novels. She lives in London with her daughter.