Sinéad Morrissey Visits JCU
The first poet laureate of Belfast Sinéad Morrissey presented in Rodman Hall of John Carroll University March 13, 2017. Morrissey has lived a truly unique life: raised by parents affiliated with the Communist Party of Northern Ireland in a community that was essentially a social experiment, asserting that she has had an unconventional upbringing is an understatement. However, it is exactly her eccentric upbringing through The Troubles of Northern Ireland that has influenced Sinéad Morrissey’s unique interpretation of the world around her, resulting in fantastic poetry.
Rodman A was filled to the brim with scholars and poetry enthusiasts from JCU and the surrounding community, so much so that multiple chairs had to be wheeled in and many were nonetheless left standing in the back like groundlings at a Shakespearean play. The presentation began with a brief introduction by Dr. Phil Metres, a fellow poet and JCU professor, before Sinéad Morrissey took the lectern. She preceded her poetry reading with disclaimers and backgrounds on the development of each of the poems.
The common theme for that night’s poetry was of history, focusing on questioning history: its knowledge and discourse, its misrepresentations and skewed power dynamics that make it malleable; what we know and how we know it. The five poems she prepared for her eager audience are pieces from her upcoming collection of poetry which will be published very soon.
The first poem Sinéad Morrissey reads is “Singing Gates,” a poem about three generations of Morrissey men in her family, from her grandfather to her son and how she acts as a hinge between them. The second poem she read is entitled “The Party Bizarre.” This poem takes the reader back into Sinéad’s childhood to a Communist Christmas party that she used to attend with her family in the early 1980’s. Riddled with ironies and sharp imagery, this poem rose collective chuckles from the crowd. “The Millihelen” was read next, which is a poem about The Titanic as a ship; she focuses on the unknowability of the past and how it allows the imagination to play with history, as well as the sheer power and magnitude of the ship itself.
To articulate something is commonly known to be to assemble something, leading her poem “Articulation” to be focused on the assembled skeleton of Napoleon’s horse in a London museum. Sinéad speaks through the point of view of a museum guide, telling museum goers about the exhibit; she mentioned earlier how she is not terribly interested in writing about herself in her poetry. Napoleon’s horse acts as a skeleton key to the past in this contemplative poem. The fifth poem from Morrissey’s new collection that she reads is “Color Photographs of Czarist Russia.” This poem ended the formal reading and theme of history, maintaining that black and white photographs can deceive, but colored photos hold more truth.
Sinéad Morrissey would softly introduce each poem in her lilting Irish accent, but as soon as the hall would fall silent, like a curtain being raised, a pause would linger in the air for a moment, then she would transform and read her poems in a strong and firm voice, wrapped in assertiveness and truth. After each and every poem she read, the moment of silence boomeranged back before the audience would applaud.
After reading her five prepared poems, Dr. Metres requested that she also read one of his personal favorites from her Parallax Collection titled “Genetics.” She obliged and read this truly beautiful poem about her divorced parents and the connection they have in her. This recitation brought more than one tear to the eyes of the audience in Rodman Hall. Finally, Sinéad Morrissey answered a few questions, signed copies of her books, and chatted with some of the attendees for a few minutes individually.
Being able to see, hear, and speak with Sinéad Morrissey has been one of the most surreal moments of my life thus far. As a huge fan of poetry, being able to meet with such an influential poet has been an unmatched experience. I would highly recommend Sinéad Morrissey’s poetry to lovers of poetry and to people who may think they do not like poetry; I can guarantee that your views will change after reading a just few striking lines of any of Morrissey’s poetry.