The fourth poetry collection from Louis Mulcahy, reflects on fifty years working in clay. With humour, scepticism and love, Louis reflects on the trials and joys of the artist craftsman from prehistory through Biblical times to his own ceramic sculpture, ranging from the classic pots of the Chinese Sung Dynasty through those of the Japanese Tea Ceremony to the excitement and vicissitudes of learning the Potter’s craft. His poetry garnered appreciation from many respected poets, including Thomas McCarthy, who said of this collection, “Here is a poetry of childhood, memory, but mainly, and most triumphantly, a poetry of human longing and attachment.“ ‘From the smell of FLIT insecticide on his mother’s fine bone china to a rhapsody upon the potteries of Jutland and Japan, to unbridled joy in the pliability of clay, his new poems soar into heights of perception, hard-won knowledge and coats of silica. Here is important and unforgettable work.’ — Thomas McCarthy, author of Pandemonium (Carcanet) ‘Louis Mulcahy’s new collection is an ambitious book, an examination of the processes of creative art by way of an exploration of his other life as a ceramicist. The international cultural contexts of ceramics, as well as the elemental processes involved, are essential to the poems. Love, family and the physical and cultural landscape of Corca Dhuibhne, are also important elements in the clay of this “well wrought urn” by a master craftsman.’ — Paddy Bushe, author of On a Turning Wing (Dedalus) ‘Deft, assured, these meditations on the creative process, on that “wrestling with the kiln” where all true art originates, resonate long after the book’s last page had been turned. Distinguished by a quiet wonder at the thrill of the creative process, at life’s shifting sands, these are poems brimming with craft and love.’ — Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh, author of The Coast Road (Gallery) ‘The Potter’s Book deals with the raw materials of creation — clay, oxides of cobalt and copper — and transmutes them into gleaming verbal objects. In evoking his fascinating story, his words have the elegance of his pots, and his poems the uncanny sheen of their glazes.’ — James Harpur, author of The White Silhouette (Carcanet)   Louis's Reading Schedule The Potter's Book 14 Oct. 2018 5.00 Launch Siamsa Belfast: Thur. 18th October 15.00 Cork: Tues 23rd October, 18.30 Dublin:Thurs 25th October, 18.30 Galway 30th October, 18.00 Limerick City Art Gallery Sun 4th Nov 15.00 Wexford Writers' Group Fri 9th Nov Naas Sat 10th Nov The Moat Theatre 13.00 Dingle Féile Beag Filíochta Sat. 11 Nov Caife na Caolóige Ballyferriter Dec date TBA Listowel Date TBA Fermoy Wed 16th Jan. Limerick Stanzas Fri 18th Jan