A collection of the most important poems by Michael Longley, spanning an exceptional sixty-year career as a member of the Belfast trio, along with Seamus Heaney and Derek Mahon.

"One of the greatest in the world" - IRISH NEWS

"A guardian of artistic heritage, a keeper of sorrow and wonders" - SEAMUS HEANEY

The title of the selection from Michael Longley's New Selected Poems comes from his poem "Ash Keys". The seeds of the ash tree, shaped like wings and carried away by the wind, may be an image for poems that seek their readers. This selection, based on thirteen individual collections, highlights Longley's unusual variety as a lyrical poet.

It shows how his themes, genres, and forms have evolved and been shaped since the 1960s. Love, violence, the natural world, art, mental drama, family, the Great War, Homeric past, and Ireland’s troubled present coexist within these pages – as do depth, humor, and beauty.

"His work is on a level that would be worthy of the Nobel Prize in Literature" - MICHAEL D. HIGGINS

"The last lines of Michael Longley's poetry are as restless and promising as the first" - Times Literary Supplement

Pages: 208, Dimensions: 12.9x12.9cm