Professor of Forgetting - by Greg Delanty (Paperback)

About the Book

"The Professor of Forgetting, a new collection from the celebrated Irish poet Greg Delanty, dwells on a stock concern of life: time, as well as questioning if time actually exists. The book starts with a meditation titled "The Now Cruz" and then considers various stages of what it means to be human, complete with musings on what might happen after we die. In accordance with the subject matter, the poems themselves vary widely in form and style. Coming from someone who has been writing poetry for close to half a century, these poems cover the main preoccupations of life: love, marriage, the death of loved ones (including his dog), being an emigrant/immigrant, home, the natural world, how we effect our world, war, creation, and much else that falls through the cracks of daily life. The book concludes with a rueful summation of the author's life in the title poem, "The Professor of Forgetting." Though dealing with some of life's heaviest and hardest experiences, Delanty's new book is buoyant with love, wonder, playfulness, hope, humor, and skill"--

Book Synopsis

The Professor of Forgetting, a new collection from the acclaimed Irish poet Greg Delanty, swings back and forth on the fulcrum of what we call "now" and confronts our notion of how time passes. From the very first poem, "Going Nowhere Fast," which ponders whether we are now here or going nowhere, to the final selection, from which the book takes its self-reflective title, these exuberant poems chronicle what it means to be human with joy, pathos, honesty, despair, sorrow, celebration, and wit. Structurally diverse in form, the poems also explore a range of poignant topics, including childhood, family, love, racism, the natural world, immigration, and the unavoidability of death. Often humorous, Delanty's poetry finds ways of coping with the challenges of life, as it makes lasting art out of heartbreaking difficulty and experience.

Review Quotes

PRAISE FOR GREG DELANTY
"A true poet."

--Christopher Ricks, Guardian

"Delanty writes poems that are wordily appealing in the way that Hopkins or late Auden appeal."--Peter Reading, Times Literary Supplement

"Everywhere he unleashes unbounded energy and upbeat cheer."--F. D. Reeve, Poetry

"The poet laureate of the contemporary Irish-in-America. Delanty has catalogued an entire generation and its relationship to exile. He is the laureate of those who have gone."--Colum McCann, Irish Times

About the Author

Greg Delanty was born in Cork City, Ireland, and maintains dual citizenship in Ireland and the United States, where he has lived since 1986. He is the author of No More Time and Book Seventeen, among many other poetry collections, and he has received numerous awards for his work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. He teaches at Saint Michael's College in Vermont.