Naming of the Bones

The poems in Naming of the Bones touch on Christian values and work towards a significant faith, at the same time focusing on the wonders of an evolving cosmos. The poems delight in the things of the earth, suggesting a secular Christianity. They hope justice will overcome human greed and violence, while they assent to the seasons developing of our landscapes and the beauty and dangers of our place in creation. The sequence 'Like the Dewfall' works with the music of the French composer Olivier Messiaen and his double piano masterpiece, 'Visions de l’Amen,' a suite of seven pieces for two pianos, composed in 1943 during the Nazi Occupation of Paris. Other poems connect the 'landscape, sea-scape and sky-scape' of the Achill of Deane's formative years to the 'wonders of the Christian faith' with a sacramental awareness that is a striking feature of many of the poems.

John F. Deane was born on Achill Island, off the west coast of Ireland. He is the founder of Poetry Ireland – the National Poetry Society – and of The Poetry Ireland Review, in 1978. He is also founder and first editor of The Dedalus Press. His poetry has been translated into many languages and has won several Irish and International Prizes. He is the recipient of the O’Shaughnessy Award for Irish Poetry and the Marten Toonder Award for Literature. He has been shortlisted for the Irish Times Poetry Now Award and for the T.S. Eliot Prize.