Gardening Leave - new and collected poetry is the first collection from writer and academic Eoin Devereux, and will be available from 451 Editions in Autumn 2025. This fine, debut volume will feature a mixture of new poetry and work previously published in journals and anthologies in Ireland, the UK and the USA.
Over the last decade Eoin's poetry has examined the working class experience, our relationship with nature and hidden family histories. In 'The Anchor Man, ' the sepia tones of a photograph silently define the relationships between a grandfather and two young brothers. Otherwise silenced voices also feature strongly in his work - particularly those of the homeless, marginalized and mentally ill. Soil in 'The Bullfield' echoes the ghost voices of long-gone working men from its furrows.
Subscribing to the notion that all language is political, Devereux has no difficulty in being described primarily as a political poet. In Gardening Leave, readers can expect work that is bold, challenging and in places subversive.