Over Here plunges us into the middle of things. The book’s elegiac sweep, as Alan Gillis extends the tonal depth and lyric resonance of his work, is combined with dark humour, imaginative flights, rants, raves, and daring provocations. Dramatic and ruminative, the poems explore the threshold between inner and outer worlds, alert and inquisitive about what we lose and what abides. Spanning past and present, parenthood and childhood, what is here and what is gone, set-pieces and shorter lyrics range widely, yet keep returning to what is at the core of experience. Some poems are set in Ireland, some in Edinburgh. Many take a walk (sometimes a drive) through town or countryside, building up a head of steam, trying to come to terms with the state of oneself and the state of the world. But at all times life’s beauty and bruises are registered through a love of language, verve and commitment, mixing hurt with hope, empathy with oomph.

Over Here is Alan Gillis's fifth book with The Gallery Press.