Maighread Medbh Livres

Subtitled 'Reflections of a Reluctant Loner', Savage Solitude is an unusual and thought-provoking book, taking the reader on a journey through the immediate experience of being alone. Drawing on quotations from a wide range of poets, philosophers and writers, the conversation of the book moves in a kind of rolling wave that is simultaneously story and analysis, report and ongoing investigation, all the while pushing towards an answer to the question (more pressing than ever in our hi-tech age) of how to be alone. Máighréad Medbh is an Irish poet with five published collections of her work to date. One of the pioneers of performance poetry in Ireland in the nineteen-nineties, she continues to impress audiences with her unique style. Born in Co. Limerick, she has pursued several ways of earning a living, including the Irish Civil Service and Internet content management. She currently works in the public library service. She lives in apartment-land, Swords, Co. Dublin.

This volume combines new collections by established authors Deirdre Brennan and Máighréad Medbh with a collection by emerging author Nuala Ní Chonchúir. The diversity of their work reveals much skill and insight with astute observations—sometimes comical, sometimes sad—on the human condition and the world around us.

The 'twelve beds' in the title of the collection refer to the twelve astrological signs. The dreamer is the poet. These poems imbue the oneiric experience with melody and inquiry.

Time plays a major role in Imbolg, Maighread Medbh's eighth book of poetry. Change & choice with their shadows, doubt & fear inhabit the book in differing forms, but sensual pleasure is always in the frame with an abiding element of play. Her 'Lockdown Diary', from March /April 2020, encompasses 50 days of meditations on the first Covid-19 lockdown