Naked: New & Selected Poems contains poems written and published over twenty-five years, including a selection of poems from each of Susan Millar DuMars' four previous collections, Big Pink Umbrella, Dreams for Breakfast, The God Thing, and Bone Fire, as well as a generous selection of new work. Here is demonstrated the development of a poet born in twentieth century America and now dwelling in twenty-first century Ireland; a voice all the more valuable for its hybrid nature.
When she writes of bodies (her own, the bodies of women, and the body of the nation), Millar DuMars uses plain and direct speech, ideally suited to the Galway of Savita Halappanavar and “The Lost Children of Tuam” . . . Millar DuMars draws from a deep technical well, and from rich observational and imaginative spaces. She is possessed of great empathy. Even when the voice rises in anger, it does so to clarify, record, and instruct. Naked: New and Selected Poems is also a book of fables, stories, and magical convergences where public and buried lives are brought out into the light.
Eamonn Wall, Poet & author
Her poetry, influenced by the directness of the American tradition, comes as a breath of fresh air . . .
Jessica Traynor, Poetry Ireland Review
The poetry of DuMars is known for its sensuality, which comes across in the concentration on detail . . . imagery we can almost taste and feel . . . writing that lingers in the mind long after the book has been closed.
Adele Ward, Eyewear
Susan Millar DuMars treads her own tightrope with sureness and poise while avoiding showy gestures – all prayer and no pretension.
John Hudson, Markings
SUSAN MILLAR DuMARS has published four collections with Salmon Poetry, the most recent of which, Bone Fire, appeared in 2016. Susan's other titles include The God Thing and she edited The Over the Edge anthology both published in 2013. Susan is also a short story writer, author of American Girls (2007, Lapwing Press) and Lights in the Distance (2010, Doire Press); she’s at work on a new collection, Cameos. Born in Philadelphia, Susan lives in Galway where she and her husband Kevin Higgins have coordinated the Over the Edge readings series since 2003. She is the editor of the 2013 anthology Over the Edge: The First Ten Years (Salmon Poetry).
Naked: New and Selected Poems - DURA – Dundee
A democratic eye bounces off the page in this collection of poems from Susan Millar DuMars’ twenty five years of published writing. She sees love in the quotidian detail, gives voice to women on the edge, notices that which we would pass by and, moreover, she deals with subjects that are normally hidden and forbidden.
