The Backyards of Heaven: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from Ireland and Newfoundland and Labrador

Mima Vulovic is a sessional lecturer at York University who also works
at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

Produced under the auspices of the Ireland Newfoundland Partnership, The
Backyards of Heaven represents the most significant collaborative poetry
project in Ireland within the last 25 years and it is the most
comprehensive representation of diverse poets from Newfoundland and
Labrador in the province’s literary history.

The anthology contains 225 poems (in English, Irish, and French, with
translations of Inuit and Mi’kmaq), which are presented in four
sections: “Heroes of Spring,” “Oceans and Ships,” “Snowstorm:
The Survivors,” and “Helios Brings Morning to Corner Brook.” The
works are contributed by 58 poets from Newfoundland and Labrador and 106
poets from Ireland. Among the Canadian contributors are Nick Avis,
Johnny Burton, Boyd Chubbs, Kerri Cull, Michael Crummey, Mary Dalton,
Rosalie Elliott, Adrian Fowler, Matthew Hollett, Philip Igloliorti,
Susan Ingersoll, Randall Maggs, Carmelita McGrath, John Steffler, Nellie
Strowbridge, Goh Poh Seng, Agnes Walsh, Des Walsh, and the late Al
Pittman (to whom the book is codedicated, along with Sean Dunne). Irish
contributors include Eavan Boland, Ciaran Carson, Seбn Dunne, Seamus
Heaney, Rita Kelly, Michael Longley, Derek Mahon, Paul Muldoon, Nuala
Nн Dhomhnaill, Séan У Tuama, and Eithne Strong. Although the poets of
these two cultures are separated by an ocean, the poems reveal the
shared mentality borne out of awesome landscapes, rough seas, distinct
dialects, and rich oral and poetic traditions. These common links are
further underlined by the fact that the poems are grouped by sentiments
and themes, rather than nationality.

The editors are to be commended for this fine compilation. Stephanie
McKenzie is the author of Millstones and Stars (a book of poetry) and a
joint editor of Humber Mouths: Young Voices from the West Coast of
Newfoundland and Labrador. John Ennis is the editor of Poetry Ireland
Review.