The Island begins with a haunting 1848 journal entry from a
man jailed on Spike Island in Ireland: "Gazing on gray stones, my eyes will
grow stony." Nearly 150 years later, Rosemary Canavan, a poet and painter,
teaches literacy at the prison on Spike Island. How do her painter's eyes and
poet's spirit meet the stony gray of prisoners' eyes? Throughout these poems,
and especially in her long sequence "The Island," Canavan explores with
tenderness and pathos the plight of the incarcerated. With lyrics that seem to
be written in primary color, Canavan also celebrates love and children, her
struggles as a working mother, and the emerging, vibrant feminist consciousness
of a new generation of Irish women.
Established in 1985 by Robert McDowell and Mark Jarman, Story Line Press gained an international reputation as a press that championed narrative and formal poetry, innovative anthologies, and criticism written in a public voice rather than academic style. Despite limited resources, Story Line became one of the most influential literary presses of the era publishing new and established writers.
