EDDIE GIBBONS

"The Republic of Ted"

The compilation of "The Republic of Ted", Eddie Gibbon's second volume of poetry, was sadly interrupted by his father's death in February 2003. Like many bereaved people before him, Eddie's reaction was to 'write it out'. The result is an eloquent extended elegy to his father which forms the core of the collection. Virginia Ironside (in her book You'll Get Over It) states 'You have no power over the death but you have power over the story'.

"Musing and poignant."
Virginia Ironside

"Genuinely moving and remarkably brave... evokes pathos, humour, regret and anger... An articulate, powerful book."

Scotland on Sunday

"Stations of the Heart"

Eddie Gibbons is at ease in a variety of poetic forms: villanelle, haiku, free verse... and he is a master of the witty epigram, as in, for example his Epitaph for Nico :

The first
Velvet
Under
Ground.

While some of Eddie's work is clearly for comic effect, other pieces mix humour and outspoken social and political commentary (Euston to Euclid, www.coma and Haiku for Hussein, to name but three).

Obviously creations of the post-Thatcher era, some of his works more effectively (and enjoyably!) denounce the destructiveness of her policies than many a political rant. Honed and deadly, the more tragic pieces fall nicely short of sentimentality and so hit one in the solar plexus - the best example is his mantra-like, sonorous and intensely moving Memorial (to the victims of the Piper Alpha oil disaster). The more personal works evoke people and eras that the reader may not have experienced directly; through the intercession of Mr Gibbons' pen one cannot help but feel nostalgia (Consider the Lily, a memory of the author's aunt in her heyday in swinging 60's Liverpool, is a good example).

Although he's a master of the subtle portrayal of emotion, Eddie loves words for their own sake and is adept at playing with them. Portrait of Ana Dali is a poetic parody of Salvador Dali's art - a daring experiment that works! Jesse James Joyce wittily re-writes the history of the west to great poetic effect.

This great book takes one on an emotional, political and geographical journey, and illustrates perfectly the saying that travel broadens the mind. It also opens the heart.

A vivid human achievement... 'Portrait of Ana Dali' is one of the best British poems of recent times. A masterpiece.

Les Murray