Books: From feminism to failing bodies
There is a strong feminist sensibility in Laurence McKeown’s debut collection of poems, written during (and after) his incarceration in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh where he almost died, having been on hunger strike for 70 days. The poems, some of which are gently humorous in their observations, deal with politics, family, desire and love and are divided into two sections; ‘poetry from prison’ and ‘poetry post release 1992.’
In ‘Margaret’, dedicated to the poet’s mother, this heartfelt lengthy poem written from prison, celebrates a woman who was soft-hearted, strong and given to overlooking minor transgressions in the boy the narrator once was.
