Somewhat Vortex, the debut poetry collection by Orla Martin, is a response to the ebb and flow of life. A singular and somewhat staccato style brings into focus a unique take on the banal, the absurd and, occasionally, a robin. Angled over life, the poet seeks to understand and connect the zig-zag of people, the jagged and plume, with lambent portraits of family, epilogues to love and a view from the poetry spectrum. There is a guest appearance by Wilson, the emotional support blackbird. There are Tuesday clothes. There could have been many more references to Radiohead. There are poems that may create something beautiful, perhaps.
“There is something wonderfully theatrical about Orla Martin’s debut collection Somewhat Vortex, with many of its poems begging for a mic and a captive audience. But like all theatre, behind the drama, the irony, the self-deprecating wit, lies the quiet pain and hard-earned joy of what it means to be human. ‘Remember, not too much of yourself, it scares them off,’ the poem’s narrator reminds herself, but these poems insist on having their say, unexpectedly revealing through playful and clever use of language, the darkness as well as the light – ‘leave me untamed, uneven, odd, hopping for my life down the street.’ Short and sweet, with a satisfying sting in its tail, Somewhat Vortex will have you standing in your seat, shouting ‘More!’”
Anne Tannam
“Orla Martin’s debut collection is to be admired as a confident body of work. The ironic voice is totally contemporary, at home with images of space travel or a poet cycling down the South Circular Road. The cadences are delightful, the language witty and pithy. She wields words as a skilful surgeon wields a scalpel.”
Jack Harte
“Martin navigates labyrinths with deft alacrity.”
Tanya Farrelly
Orla Martin has had poetry published in Poetry Ireland Review, Washing Windows anthologies (Arlen House), The Cúirt Journal, Crannóg, The Story Thursday Book, The Galway Review, Scríobh Poetry Competition, The Poetry Bus and Channel. Her work has been broadcast by RTÉ and Dublin City FM. Having read as part of the Poetry Ireland Introductions series. her poetry has been shortlisted for many awards including the Cathal Buí Poetry Competition, the Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Award, the Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Prize, the Francis Ledwidge Poetry Award and the Hanna Greally International Literary Awards at SiarScéal Festival.
Orla has been a featured reader at many literary events around Ireland including the Francis Ledwidge Festival, STACCATO, Eastrogen Rising, Flying South, Mixed Messages, Kilmainham Arts Club, Seven Towers, Glór, Tongue Box, The Naked Lunch, Patrick Kavanagh Festival and Monster Truck Poetry Slam.
Having completed an MA in Arts Policy and Practice at the National University of Ireland, Galway, Orla works as the administrator at the Irish Writers Centre, in Dublin.
