Other Edens : The Life and Work of Brian Coffey

This new volume of essays provides a critical re-evaluation of Brian Coffey (1905-1995), a leading figure in Ireland's post-Independence poetic avant garde. With contributions from younger scholars as well as veteran Coffey commentators, the book casts new light on one of the most fascinating yet least understood figures in twentieth-century Irish letters. Philosopher, scientist, friend of Samuel Beckett, Denis Devlin and Thomas MacGreevy, Brian Coffey's writing career spanned six decades, two continents, and a vast range of interests and influences. Offering a comprehensive re-assessment of his poetic achievement, the collection seeks to situate Coffey as a distinctive and original voice in Irish poetry whose influence and importance have been overlooked. It also reveals the poet's complex negotiations with Irish identity, Catholicism, and his own condition of unwilling exile. The contributors consider Coffey within broader cultural contexts, examining his collaborations with S.W. Hay