ɫƵ’s Professor Eoin Devereux has announced the publication of his debut poetry collection, Gardening Leave.
Described by the author as ‘unapologetically political’, the poems are an attempt by the well-known UL academic to give a voice to those who he says are too often ignored or written off.
The collection is not just concerned with issues of social justice but is also deeply personal. The poems in Gardening Leave draw on hidden family histories, as well as Professor Devereux’s working-class upbringing in Limerick’s Kennedy Park.
He said: “I had written a lot in my teens – song lyrics mostly. I returned to creative writing 13 years ago, but my starting point wasn’t poetry. I wrote short stories and flash fiction, but poetry began to seep out. I was initially very reluctant to write poetry, but then realised that, in a way, I had no choice.”
In one of the poems contained within the collection, ‘That Poetry Thing’, Professor Devereux reveals the reasons why he writes poetry. He writes about how his poems aim to give a voice to stories untold, to call out social injustice and in doing so, his work allows him the space to try and imagine a better world.
The collection has been almost four years in the making, a labour of love and a creative endeavour that has granted the UL academic “huge freedom”.
“I think that my academic writing and teaching has improved because creativity encourages you to take more risks, to be more provocative. In contrast to the ‘publish or perish’ culture, which increasingly surrounds a lot of academic writing, the main lesson I took from writing Gardening Leave was to take my time,” said Professor Devereux.
“Creativity requires time and space, and my advice to anyone starting out in creative writing is to put the poem or story in a drawer for at least six months before even thinking of publishing it.”
Professor Devereux, a cultural sociologist and co-director of UL’s Centre for the Study of Popular Music and Popular Culture, is also a lecturer on UL’s MA in Creative Writing, which gives students access to esteemed wordsmiths and award-winning writers, including Professor Joseph O’Connor, Professor Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, Donal Ryan and Emily Cullen.
He said: “There is a phenomenal world-class team working on the MA in Creative Writing ɫƵ and I’m privileged to teach beside them. The programme has an outstanding ethos of nurturing creativity. Students are offered in depth teaching and one to one feedback by an experienced team of writers.”
The MA in Creative Writing ɫƵ is the only master’s in Ireland with a focus on creative writing in the community. The module places a strong emphasis on empathy and is taught by Professor Devereux who describes empathy as “an essential skill for all creative writers”.
As he reflects on the publication of his first poetry collection, Professor Devereux describes seeing his poems in print as “deeply gratifying”.
Ahead of its launch later this week, the book has been widely praised by some of Ireland’s best-known writers and poets.
Award-winning novelist and Associate Professor in Creative Writing ɫƵ, Donal Ryan, described Gardening Leave as a “towering achievement”. He said: “It is essential poetry, funny and furious, scything and stark, sincere and always beautiful.”
Dr Emily Cullen, the inaugural Meskell UL-Fifty Poet in Residence, said: “Professor Devereux’s cadences often coalesce around deeply felt questions of social justice. This is an important book, full of compassion, to nourish the garden of the spirit.”
Martin Dyar, the award-winning Mayo poet, described Professor Devereux’s debut collection as “beautifully free-flowing, dramatic and mature.” He said: “Gardening Leave announces a poet committed to the humane craft of making the lyrical voice resound as a social instrument and as a gift for every reader.”
Gardening Leave will be launched by Donal Ryan and Professor Sarah Moore Fitzgerald at O’Mahony’s Bookshop in Limerick on 6 November at 6.30pm.
On 11 November, Dr Emily Cullen will be in conversation with Professor Eoin Devereux at 1pm in the Bourn Vincent Gallery at ɫƵ.
Further information about Gardening Leave by Professor Eoin Devereux can be found .