The Ark Builders

Transition from past to present and beyond lies at the heart of Mary O'Donnell's sixth collection, with its images of women in art, in the grip of cosmetic obsession, in old age and in love. The redemptive ark of the title is capable of carrying all comers on board, both animal and human, from the modern city in its night turmoil, to the rural and ancestral, all undergoing change. O'Donnell attends to the nature of love, loss and continuity, and provides an insight into the complex energies of a struggling global ecology. The rhythms of her own country, Ireland, are keenly observed as it lives out its modern role, partly in flux, partly still aware of ancient connections to land and language. This is a collection from a poet at the height of her powers.