John Liddy - True to Form

                                           John Liddy - True to Form

A new collection of poetry by John Liddy finds the extraordinary in the ordinary and confirms the enduring strengths of one of Ireland’s most accomplished poets. Over many years he has quietly built one of the most substantial bodies of work in contemporary Irish poetry, earning the respect of readers and fellow writers alike. His poems are rooted in close observation, drawing meaning from landscape, memory and the ordinary experiences of everyday life.

Born in Cork and raised in Limerick, Liddy has spent much of his life in Madrid. His poetry is rooted in familiar landscapes while never losing sight of the broader human experience, moving naturally between memory, history, travel and the small moments that reveal something lasting about our lives.

His latest collection continues that tradition while demonstrating that, after many years of writing, his curiosity remains undiminished.

Poetry as craft

One of the defining features of the new collection is its exploration of poetic form. The opening section, Formations, serves almost as an exhibition of the poet’s craftsmanship, presenting an impressive range of traditional forms including haiku, ghazal, villanelle, sestina, pantoum and sonnet.

For some readers, poetic forms can appear restrictive. Liddy demonstrates precisely the opposite. Each structure becomes another way of thinking, another rhythm through which experience can be expressed. Rather than limiting imagination, form sharpens it.

The collection quietly celebrates poetry not simply as inspiration but as skilled workmanship. Every poem reflects an understanding that art is made through patience, discipline and careful attention to language.

The craftsman and the poet

That idea reaches one of its finest expressions in Woodturning (for Paddy O'Connor). On the surface, the poem describes a wood-turner working patiently in his shed, shaping timber into an object of beauty. Yet beneath the description lies a richer meditation on creativity itself. The wood carries within it the marks of age and history. As the craftsman works, those years are not erased but transformed. The act becomes, as Liddy suggests, a renovation of the past rather than an escape from it. The finished object emerges as what the poet describes as a ‘reflected vision of the soul’, revealing that the poem is ultimately as much about writing as woodturning. Just as the craftsman uncovers the hidden form within the timber, the poet discovers meaning within language.

Equally striking is the poem’s acceptance of imperfection. Knots and flaws do not diminish the work. Instead they become part of its character, shaping what follows. What may once have been a gallows tree is ultimately transformed into something capable of bearing a blooming rose, an image that speaks eloquently of renewal and redemption.

Looking beyond familiar horizons

As the collection progresses into the sections Contemplations and Verifications, its horizons widen considerably. Travel becomes more than movement between countries. Encounters with unfamiliar cultures become opportunities to reconsider assumptions that often pass unquestioned at home.

One of the collection’s most memorable poems, Trying to Explain the Stations of the Cross, unfolds inside a church in Tianjin, China. Accompanied by two young guides who have never entered a Christian church before, the poet attempts to explain the familiar sequence of Christ’s Passion. Their questions are disarmingly simple. Why was Jesus condemned? What are sins? Why would such suffering be necessary?

The exchanges are at times gently humorous, yet they expose something profound. Ideas that have become deeply embedded within one culture suddenly require explanation when viewed through entirely different eyes. The poet finds himself confronting what he calls ‘a missioner’s dilemma’, recognising the distance between inherited belief and rational enquiry. The poem succeeds not because it argues for faith or against it but because it captures the moment when two worldviews meet with genuine curiosity rather than judgement.

Travel in search of people

Another standout poem, A Reason for Visiting Vietnam, initially appears to belong firmly within the tradition of travel writing. Liddy records the remarkable scenery of Ha Long Bay, the crowded markets, reminders of war and the vivid details of everyday Vietnamese life with his customary eye for observation. Gradually, however, the poem changes direction.

The repeated refrain, ‘It was not...’, steadily strips away each apparent reason for the journey. The famous landmarks, dramatic scenery and historical sites prove secondary. The real destination is a person. Almost imperceptibly the poem shifts from geography to human relationship. Reunion, affection, memory and family emerge as the true reasons for travelling. The landscapes remain beautiful, but they become the setting rather than the subject. It is a reminder that journeys are rarely defined by the places we visit. They are remembered because of the people we meet or return to.

The poetry of attentiveness

Throughout the collection one quality appears again and again: attentiveness. Liddy has always possessed the rare ability to notice what others overlook. A passing gesture, the grain within a piece of wood, an overlooked historical detail or an ordinary conversation may become the starting point for a poem that opens unexpectedly onto larger questions of identity, memory and time.

His poetry encourages readers to slow their pace. Rather than searching for grand declarations, it finds significance within ordinary experience. The familiar becomes luminous simply because it has been observed with such care. That gift has long distinguished his writing and remains central to this latest collection.

A lifetime’s achievement

John Liddy’s reputation has never depended upon literary fashion. Across many decades he has continued to produce poetry that is thoughtful without becoming obscure, accessible without sacrificing depth and deeply humane without sentimentality. This latest collection demonstrates a poet still willing to experiment, still fascinated by language and still alert to the richness of everyday life. Whether writing about craftsmanship, history, travel or cultural encounter, Liddy consistently returns to what matters most: the relationships between people, places and memory.

In an age increasingly characterised by distraction and haste, his poems invite readers to pause, to observe more closely and to discover that the ordinary often contains extraordinary meaning. It is an invitation worth accepting and another reminder of why John Liddy remains one of the most accomplished and quietly distinctive voices in contemporary Irish poetry.

The publication of this collection is more than the arrival of another volume of poems. It is the latest chapter in a literary journey that has enriched Irish writing for decades. John Liddy continues to remind us that poetry is not an escape from the world but a deeper way of inhabiting it. His work asks readers to look again at what they think they know and to find fresh meaning in places, people and memories often taken for granted. In doing so, this collection confirms that his voice remains as perceptive, generous and quietly compelling as ever. True to Form is available from limerickwriterscentre.com