Rooster

McGrath Gerry

"Rooster", Gerry McGrath's second book of poems, observes with painterly precision the commonplaces of our experience, creating landscapes of emotional range and intensity. Biography, history, geography are interwoven in potent new forms: a lover's fragile caress, the "expeditionary skill" of a dentist, the death of irony celebrated by crows "helpless with laughter", a green tree burning in a red room.

In its second and third sections the book is emboldened by novel experiences and ancient panoramas: the isle of Arran is transmogrified, and a collaboration inspired by the bosky latitudes of the French artists' commune Grez-sur-Loing adds colour, scope and depth. In the two concluding sections "Rooster" is at its most ambitious, sketching expansive, rehabilitated vistas of a world that is haunting and new.

About the Author

Gerry McGrath was born and raised in Helensburgh, Scotland. He is a graduate of Strathclyde University and worked for several years as a teacher of modern languages. His first collection of poetry "A to B" (Carcanet) was published in 2008. In 2004 he was a winner of the Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Award and in 2007 received a New Writer's Bursary from the Scottish Arts Council. His poetry was included in the anthology "New Poetries IV" (Carcanet, 2007). He lives in North Ayrshire with his wife, Kate, and two sons, Liam and Owen.

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