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travelseatsreads's review
4.0
To Star The Dark is a beautiful and unusual collection of poetry by the wonderful Doireann Ní Ghríofa which looks at themes such as Irish history, motherhood and sexuality.
Emotionally charged with some uncomfortable moments which are beautifully contrasted by sublime captivating prose.
My Favourites
🌟 Prayer
⭐ Under The City, A Light In A Cave
✨ False Friends
Read If You Like
Haunting powerful and slightly unnerving poetry.
For Fans Of
Sara Baume, Kerri Ní Dochartaigh, Sophie White, Sarah Davis-Goff
Emotionally charged with some uncomfortable moments which are beautifully contrasted by sublime captivating prose.
My Favourites
🌟 Prayer
⭐ Under The City, A Light In A Cave
✨ False Friends
Read If You Like
Haunting powerful and slightly unnerving poetry.
For Fans Of
Sara Baume, Kerri Ní Dochartaigh, Sophie White, Sarah Davis-Goff
jessmaeshelley's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
armene's review
3.0
really enjoyed how lyrical doireann ní ghríofa’s work is while still tying the narrative to her places
foggy_rosamund's review
5.0
A magical, imaginative collection, To Star the Dark builds on Ní Ghríofa’s previous work on themes that include birth, bodily autonomy, grief and the place of women in Irish history. Her poetry uses rhyme, assonance, repetition and rhythm to create magical soundscapes that captures the reader’s ear. This collection includes a series of spells and nocturnes that use imagistic, rhythmic language which gives a sense of invocation and enchantment. The collection also deals with the physicality of the body, from the series “Seven Postcards from a Hospital”, which explores the aftermath of a traumatic birth, to “A Jaw, Ajar”, which describes finding a famine-era jaw-bone on the site of a mass grave: the history a body holds, as well as the physical extremities it undergoes, are witnessed by the poet, and can be a source of beauty as well as one of loss. The body is a place of fertility and transcendence in “In Albumen, In Pixels, in Bricks,” in which the body carries eggs and history; and a place of betrayal and pain, in “Waking Again”, a poem dedicated to Savita Halappanavar. The collection also looks at Irish women in history, including the scientist Maude Delap, a self-educated authority on marine life, born 1866. Her history is here told in four parts, and Ní Ghríofa draws on a wealth of evocative imagery and sound to create Delap’s inner life: “Under her boat / a world / of hover / and float / of swim and flit / and gilled throats.” This collection also includes While Bleeding, a poem about “all the red / that fell into pads and rags – / the weight of red, the wait for red / that we share.” A deeply moving, imaginative and tender poem that typifies Ní Ghríofa’s work with its music and fierce autonomy. This is a collection by a skilled and subtle poet, filled with rich sound and language: highly recommended.