Howdie-Skelp Poems
Howdie-Skelp Poems by Paul Muldoon is a collection published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on November 16, 2021. This edition, comprising 192 pages, presents a diverse array of poems that serve as a sharp wake-up call, reflecting on various themes and experiences. The title refers to a “howdie-skelp,” a metaphorical slap in the face that signifies a call to action, setting the tone for the collection.
Readers will find a range of poetic forms and subjects within this work, including a nightmarish reinterpretation of The Waste Land and an elegy for fellow Northern Irish poet Ciaran Carson. The collection also features a heroic crown of sonnets responding to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a translation from ninth-century Irish, and a sequence of ekphrastic poems that challenge conventional notions of taste. Howdie-Skelp Poems showcases Muldoon’s ability to engage with contemporary issues while drawing on rich literary traditions.
Official synopsis Publisher
The Pulitzer Prize–winning poet delivers a sharp wake-up call with his fourteenth collection.
A “howdie-skelp” is the slap in the face a midwife gives a newborn. It’s a wake-up call. A call to action.
The poems in Howdie-Skelp, Paul Muldoon’s new collection, include a nightmarish remake of The Waste Land, an elegy for his fellow Northern Irish poet Ciaran Carson, a heroic crown of sonnets that responds to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a translation from the ninth-century Irish, and a Yeatsian sequence of ekphrastic poems that call into question the very idea of an “affront” to good taste. Muldoon is a poet who continues not only to capture but to command our attention.
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