Founded in 1992, A. & A. Farmar publish mainly non-fiction books of Irish interest, including history, traveller, biography, business titles and food and drink. Book-lovers will appreciate our very high editorial, design and production standards, for which we have a well-established reputation. All the books listed here can be ordered directly from us, at a special discount—just click on 'Buy'.
Memory Poems
Louise C. Callaghan (Ed.)
 | The Irish Times, 20 December 2003
Timing right for memory poems Christmas being the ultimate anniversary of the heart, the recent publication of a collection of memory poems couldn't be better timed. Called Forgotten Light and edited by Irish poet Louise C. Callaghan, it includes work by such Irish poets as Dennis O'Driscoll, Eavan Boland, Austin Clarke, Caitriona O'Reilly, Celia de Freine, Paula Meehan, Julie O'Callaghan, Seamus Deane, Eilean Ni Chuilleanain and John Montague. International names include a wide range from Wordsworth and William Carlos Williams to Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Marina Tsvetayeva, Paul Celan, Tess Gallagher and Anne Stevenson. Derek Mahon is represented by his magnificent long poem, 'The Yaddo Letter'. What I lost was a wife, a life, and you.As for love, a treasure when first it's new, it all too often fades away, for both, like the morning dew; yet it remains the one sure thing to cling to as I cling like grim death to the thought of you, sitting alone here in upstate New York, half-way to Montreal, trying to work, lit by Tiffany lamps, Sinead O'Connor on the stereo. Royalties from the book go to the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, and in a moving foreword Winifred Bligh of the society explains the link between the organisation and memory. "The key to defining who we are, and establishing our personal identity and sense of worth, is memory; without memory we are non-persons living in a strange, barren, limbo land," she writes. For someone with Alzheimer's, "this sense of self is eroded, for one of the first main symptoms of this disease is short-term memory loss, which leaves people stranded between memories of early youth and the immediate moment, with a large barren void in between." Memory, says Callaghan in her introduction, is that bridge which takes us back to what was lost or forgotten. The book is published by A&A Farmar, priced €12.99. € 12.99 160 pp pb ISBN: 978-1-899047-84-0 Buy |
A&A Farmar's World — Christian values upheld
The Italian deputy Cosimo Mele, of the UDC (ex-Christian Democrats) was caught out in what he called ‘a little adventure’ with a prostitute. The father of four defended himself vigorously—‘Of course I identify with Christian values’ he said ‘but what have those got to do with going to bed with a prostitute? This is a private matter.’ (The Irish Times, 1 August 2007)