Captain Lavender

Readers of Captain Lavender, especially if they are among the enthusiastic followers of the four previous volumes, will find McGuckian here, for various reasons, easing into clarity, even relaxing into a vulnerable openness. First, as do other truly innovative writers, McGuckian has taught us to read her vision of the world. Secondly, McGuckian's recent experiences teaching political prisoners - self-styled "saviors" of their causes - enter indirectly into many of these poems, particularly in section two.

As her comment on this volume, McGuckian chose as epigraph a statement from Picasso's letters: "I have not painted the war...but I have no doubt that the war is in...these paintings I have done."