Sir, - May I ask you to indulge me - because of a long association with your paper - and include this letter, which I have tried to make as non commercial as possible? To mark the centenary of his birth, I am bringing out a book, Austin Clarke Remembered, consisting of essays, poems and reminiscences (hardback £12.00, paperback £7.50).
With an introduction by Seamus Heaney, together with a poem by him, there are poems by Brendan Kennelly, Derek Mahon and John Montague. There are contributions by the poets Michael Hartnett, Thomas Kinsella and Thomas McCarthy. Other contributors include Patricia Boylan on the Dublin Verse Speaking Society, Lucy Collins on, women in his poetry, Aileen Dempsey on his cremation, Gregory A Schirmer on him as critic, Douglas Sealy on getting to know him and Mary Thompson on his early epic poems.
Finally, the two Thomas Davis Lectures broadcast on Radio 1 by the late Gus Martin are published for the first time. Because of distribution problems, it is likely to be available only in Dublin. However, for those readers who find this inconvenient it can be obtained post free from the address below. - Yours, etc.,
21 Pleasants Street,
Dublin 8.