This debut novel by acclaimed Irish poet Seán Hewitt explores the profound journey of sexual awakening with striking intensity. Drawing comparisons to the works of Garth Greenwell and Justin Torres, the narrative delves into themes of identity and desire, capturing the complexities of human emotions and relationships. Hewitt's lyrical prose invites readers into a deeply personal and evocative experience, making it a compelling addition to contemporary literature.
The second poetry collection from the author of All Down Darkness Wide and the winner of the 2022 Rooney Prize 'He's an exquisitely calm and insightful lyric poet' MAX PORTER, author of SHY 'Nothing seems beyond him' SUNDAY TIMES This is a haunted journey through love, loss and estrangement. As the mind wanders and becomes spectral, these poems forge their own unique path through the landscape. The road Hewitt takes us on is a sleepwalk through the nightwoods, a dream-state where nature is by turns regenerated and broken, and where the split self of the speaker is interrupted by a series of ghosts, memories and encounters. Following the reciprocal relationship between queer sexuality and the natural world that he explored in Tongues of Fire, the poet conjures us here into a trance: a deep delirium of hypnotic, hectic rapture where everything is called into question, until a union is finally achieved - a union in nature, with nature. A threnody for what is lost, a dance through apocalypse and rebirth, Rapture's Road draws us through what is hidden, secret, often forbidden, to a state of ecstasy. It leads into the humid night, through lethal love and grief, and glimpses, at the end of the journey, a place of tenderness and re-awakening.
For centuries, evidence of queer love in the ancient world has either been
ignored or suppressed. Even today, only a few narratives are widely known: the
wild romance of Achilles and Patroclus; the yearning love of Sappho’s lyrics;
and the three genders introduced in Plato’s Symposium. Yet there is a rich
literary tradition of queer Greek and Roman love that extends far beyond the
prudish translations of these familiar handful of stories. In 300,000 Kisses,
award-winning poet Seán Hewitt and renowned designer Luke Edward Hall collect
these stories—including some of the most beautiful and moving in the classical
canon—and bring them to vivid life. Alongside celebrated works by Homer,
Sappho, Ovid and Catullus, they include a wide range of rarely anthologized
sources: raunchy poems, thoughtful dialogues, philosophical treatises, and
even a graffiti text salvaged from the ruins of Pompeii. Through Hewitt’s
contemporary translations and Hall’s vibrant illustrations, we encounter
relationships that are by turns heartfelt and nourishing, unrequited and
lustful, toxic and crude, tender and fulfilling. A groundbreaking anthology
that seeks to change the way we see the ancient world, 300,000 Kisses is a
fascinating journey through love in all its forms.
Keď Seán stretne Eliasa, bezhlavo sa do seba zamilujú. Idylka však netrvá dlho
a spoločne sa musia vyrovnať s Eliasovou ťažkou depresiou. Pár je nútený čeliť
osudovej skúške. Autofikcia írskeho básnika Seána Hewitta je odvážnou úvahou
nad bremenom existencie vo svete, v ktorom šťastné prežívanie kvír vzťahov nie
je ani zďaleka samozrejmosťou. Čo všetko láska vydrží a čo už nie? pýta sa
Hewitt vo svojom prozaickom debute a zároveň sa ponára hlboko do osobnej
histórie plnej vášne i temna. Kniha v roku 2022 získala Rooneyho cenu pre
írsku literatúru. Vydanie knihy z verejných zdrojov podporil Fond na podporu
umenia, ktorý je hlavným partnerom projektu. Preklad tejto knihy vychádza s
podporou Literature Ireland.
A remarkable first collection by an important new poetIn this collection, Sean
Hewitt gives us poems of a rare musicality and grace. The collection ends with
a series of elegies for the poet's father: in the face of despair, we are met
with a fierce brightness, and a reclamation of the spiritual.
