The Turn for Ithaca
Gerard Smyth’s 11th collection, The Turn for Ithaca, is due for publication by Dedalus Press in February. In these new poems, many written during the Covid/lockdown years, Smyth further explores his perennial subject of memory, its mysteries and revelations. Voices of loved ones, teachers and other poets populate a book that includes a series of poems in memory of the lost voices of fellow poets, Kinsella, Boland and Kennelly. The Turn for Ithaca also reaches out to wider issues facing our changing world of wars, migration and a growing threat to freedom of expression.
Published: 2025
The Turn for Ithaca is a collection of exquisite acts of lyric generosity. Smyth’s technical accomplishment is lightly-worn, but the poems are the products of a lifetime of dedication and scrupulousness, of days ‘fine-tuning’ the art. The integrity and humbleness that infuses the work is matched only by the fiercely free spirit of a poet.
– Sasha Dugdale
Poet, playwright and translator