Rooted in the gay and lesbian culture of contemporary small-town Ireland, this lyrical collection of short stories offers a unique perspective on its characters. Each narrative introduces a cast that ranges from humorous to grotesque, yet remains deeply poignant. As secrets unfold with each story, the collection paints an unexpected portrait of a community undergoing significant transformation, capturing the essence of its people and their experiences during a time of change.
Fred Johnston, a Belfast native residing in Galway, is an accomplished poet and novelist, also recognized for his reviews in esteemed publications. His collection, True North, features poems that have previously been published in various literary journals, showcasing his diverse poetic voice. The work reflects his extensive experience in the literary world and highlights his contributions to contemporary poetry.
Exploring the theme of internal exile, this collection features eleven stories that delve into the lives of outsiders grappling with their aspirations versus reality. Characters include a young woman experiencing a breakdown in Spain, a self-proclaimed leader evading the law, and a wealthy housewife facing the emptiness of her seemingly perfect marriage. Each narrative highlights the struggles and failures of individuals seeking meaning in contemporary society.
The phrase 'rogue states' has been conjured up with deadly purpose, by major world powers, in particular the United States, to describe weaker countries who have fallen out of favour with the West, some of whom enjoyed the role of client states for many years, or were permitted to rule despotically under the benevolent threat of 'regime change' if they in any way proved politically or economically difficult. Issues of human rights never entered into it. Johnston's new collection of poems adopts the phrase and personalises it; serious illness is seen as a 'rogue state,' a usurpation of the lived ordinary, a demolishing of physical and moral routine, a form of invasion. In illness, as in civil turmoil, civilizing rules are often turned upside down or disregarded, a powerful and selfish striving for survival develops. Other poems take on the mundane everyday, the speculative, and contemplate the uses of the poetic imagination in a society where, in the poet's view, poetry itself is under siege and its use and importance reset. Politics and society can never be outside or beyond the poet's critical reach. At a time when poets and writers in less humanitarian societies than our own can still suffer - and are suffering - imprisonment, the banning of their work, or much worse, we have, he would maintain, a duty to use our freedom to speak out against injustice, even at the risk of being labelled 'rogue' ourselves. Book jacket.
