The unlikely poet who constructs his writing with a carpenter’s skill

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But in this case, he may well be wrong, as the carpenter-turned-poet has just been shortlisted for one of the prestigious Forward Prizes in England.

The £5,000 Felix Dennis Award for Best First Collection is the most coveted prize on these islands for a début poet. What is delightfully surprising is that Adam’s publisher is Doire Press, a small independent press based in Connemara, unlike the other short-listed collections from heavy-weight publishing houses such as Faber & Faber, Bloodaxe Books and Seren Books.