By Polina Cosgrave

My Name Is

The debut collection of poems by Russian-born Irish resident Polina Cosgrave

12.5020.00

All Poetry, Poetry from Ireland

Description

Born in Russia and now living in Ireland, Polina Cosgrave is heir to at least two powerful poetic traditions, both of which reveal themselves to captivating effect in this fresh, lively, spirited debut collection of poems. That they were written in English is in itself an extraordinary achievement, but far from their most remarkable feature.

The steely resolve of social and political engagement interweaves here with a tender and deceptively light-handed touch in poems that address the traumas of history, of loss, of migration, but also the joys and consolations of belonging, love, and motherhood.

The outstanding title poem, previously included in Writing Home: The ‘New Irish’ Poets (2019), begins as a riff on the poet’s own autobiographical experience but quickly deepens and widens into a compelling exploration of identity itself, providing the backbone to a collection that cannot fail to surprise, entertain and, ultimately, move the reader in equal measure.


Surnames

I’m a Russian girl with an Irish surname,
who was a Russian girl with a Jewish surname,
who was a Russian girl with a Russian surname
who once spent nine months in a belly of
an Armenian girl with a Russian surname.
All these surnames
I can neither acknowledge nor return,
each opening or eclipsing the other
like a Russian doll.


01 October 2020
ISBN HB 9781910251805
ISBN PB 9781910251799
140 x 216 mm
66 pp

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About The Author

Author

POLINA COSGRAVE was born in Volgograd, Russia in 1988. She earned a degree in Linguistics as a teacher of English and French in Volgograd State Pedagogical University at the Chair of International Communication. Polina’s diploma thesis The Linguistic Phenomenon Of Fear In Stephen King’s Novels won the first prize at the University’s 63rd conference. Her work in Russian was featured on Echo of Moscow radio station, Russia-K channel and the website Polutona. Polina’s publications in Russian include poems in Aloud, Poems About Ourselves, (Ridero, Moscow, 2016), Pashnya, Almanac (CWS, Moscow, 2016), Lost Poetry Front 6 (Volgograd, 2017), Lost Poetry Front 7 (Volgograd, 2018) and Ivan’s Choice in the short story collection Twist On The Sprat Can (Eksmo, 2019). She collaborated on an Artist book project A Human Being Open Wide (Otkrytyj Nastezh’ Chelovek, Moscow, 2018) in livre artiste style with Russian artist Valery Korchagin, the exhibition of which took place in the National Centre for Contemporary Arts (Kaliningrad, Russia). Polina Cosgrave moved to Dublin in 2016 to study literature. She got her MFA in American College Dublin, where she was also rewarded The Board of Trustees medal. She studied theatre performance in Gaiety School of Acting and stage combat with the Irish Dramatic Combat Academy. Polina’s poetry in English has appeared in The Irish Times, Arena on RTÉ Radio 1, Writing Home: The ‘New Irish’ Poets (Dedalus Press, 2019), Shamrock Haiku Journal (2018) and Qutub Minar Review (2019). Polina Cosgrave has taken part in Bray Literary Festival, Arts in Action NUI Galway, Mother Tongues Festival and The Fingal Poetry Festival. She lives in Arklow with her family.