Leaving the Mickey

Patricia Irvine is a poet whose familiarity with classical models and diction is immediately apparent, but who undercuts with irony, often self-directed, any hint of undue formality or pretension.

'Ranging across a breadth of concerns personal, local and global, she uses wit and satire and wordplay to demonstrate due deference to the large truths she spars with. The poems that deal with the natural world are particularly limpid and adroit … Here is a strong voice, connected with a good eye and a good ear. The reach is wide, the touch assured.' - Cath Kenneally