Kildare poet releases seventh volume of work
Steve Denehan has published his most recent work
IN A quiet corner of north Kildare a local poet has just released his seventh volume of verse this week (15 September), and volume eight “is already in the can”.
is the latest work from Allenwood writer Steve Denehan (50), and was released by British publisher Renard on Monday.
“This is a poignant collection that draws on a wide variety of experiences, bound to appeal to a broad cross-section of readers and supported by a series of events and festival appearances,” said spokesperson for Renard, Joe O’Connor.
“ is a beautifully crafted, wide-ranging collection that lingers on the intersection of humanity and the environment.
“Foregrounding ageing parents and new family members arriving, and zooming out to take in the beauty of the natural world, this is a wildly relatable collection, shot through with humour – a companion in all life has in store."
Steve was a little more direct.
“There were a couple of sombre reasons as my dad passed away last year, so it’s not a jaunty as previous books, but they just keep on coming,” he confessed.
He quoted one poem from the volume which reflected this poignancy.
“He can’t remember yesterday, or the yesterdays before but he can remember a Wednesday afternoon in 1949,” said Steve from his own work.
Originally from the Old Airport Road in Santry, Steve and his teacher wife Eimear have been in Allenwood for over 20 years where Steve has been quietly beavering away.
“I’ve been writing all my life, but only in the last six or seven years have I done anything about it,” he said.
“To be fair, it was my wife who said I might as well get it out there, because she said there’s no point writing for no reason, but I kind of like writing for no reason,” he admitted.
The asked where the name of the anthology came from, and was surprised by the honesty of the answer.
“It’s a line from a poem that was meant to go in the book, but I forgot to leave it in for the final draft, so it doesn’t really make sense!” he said.
Though this is his seventh oeuvre, Steve had already released to smaller anthologies (known as chapbooks) before all those and this is his first work with Renard.
“They’ve been very good, and I think I might stay with them,”
The book features around 150 poems across 200 plus pages.
"I wrote a lot," said Steve.
This presumably is why Steve is so ahead of himself, with “book eight already in the can, and we’ll get into number nine next year”.
Final tribute should be left to his fellow author, and Coill Dubh native Cauvery Madhavan who was featured in these very pages last year with her novel about the Indian Mutiny.
“Steve Denehan takes the simplest of words and magics them into profound statements that will make you rethink life, love and living,” she said in her tribute.
