Preface

Trevor Joyce is an Irish poet whose innovation and creativity constitutes a sustained challenge to the conventions of poetry and reading in Ireland and abroad. Writing and publishing in Ireland since 1967, Joyce has seventeen collections of poetry and is cofounder and coeditor of New Writers’ Press. He is director of the SoundEye poetry festival in Cork, now in its eighteenth year, and is a member of Aosdána, a nationalaffiliation of creative artists in Ireland. The materials gathered here include a bibliography of Joyce’s poetry and criticism, an interview with the poet, a critical essay, and a gallery of book covers and photographs. The bibliography itemizes Joyce’s poetry, critical writing, editorial work, and recorded readings, along with an extensive list of reviews, secondary criticism, and biographical references. My thanks to the readers and scholars of Joyce’s work who helped in the collation of the bibliography. The interview dates from November 2010 and addresses Joyce’s poetic approach to and use of language, the formal and stylistic innovations of his oeuvre, and the importance of nationality to his thinking and writing.