08/10/2015

16

To celebrate the centenary of the 1916 Rising, Stoney Road Press, in association with An Post and Poetry Ireland, are pleased to announce the publication of 16, a limited-edition, fine-press collection of poetry and art.

Poetry, more than any other art form, is intimately connected to the events of Easter 1916. Three of the executed signatories of the Proclamation - Pádraig Pearse, Thomas McDonagh and Joseph Mary Plunkett - were recognised poets of their day, who had used their poems to espouse the cause of revolutionary nationalism. The author Peter Costello, in his 'The Heart Grown Brutal', says of them: “They gave themselves to the great theme of their poetry, the cause of Ireland, and made the Rising not merely a political event but also a poetic creation.”

In contrast to this assessment of their literary importance, Pearse, in a moment of humorous self-effacement, is reported to have said that, should the Rising fail, “If we do nothing else, we shall rid Ireland of three bad poets.”

Poetry Ireland have invited four contemporary poets to present their own responses to the Rising and its aftermath. They are: Harry Clifton, Vona Groarke, Paula Meehan and Paul Muldoon. Paul Muldoon’s Irish poem is translated into English by Nuala Ní Dhomhnall.

In addition, Stoney Road Press has commissioned an artwork from the following artists:  Michael Canning, Alice Maher, Brian O'Doherty and Kathy Prendergast and  invited the Irish literary scholar, Professor Declan Kiberd, to write an introduction and notes to the book.

To complement this introduction, he has chosen eight poems relevant to the notion of Ireland's freedom and the sacrifices of those who lived and died to attain that cherished goal. Included in this selection will be: Seán Ó Duibhir an Ghleanna', with George Sigerson's translation, 'Róisín Dubh' / 'My Dark Rosaleen', with James Clarence Mangan's English version, 'The Famine Year', by Lady Jane Wilde, 'Fornocht Do Chonac Thú', by Pearse, with his own English version, 'Lament for Thomas MacDonagh', by Francis Ledwidge,  'Easter 1916', by W. B. Yeats,  'Comrades - to Con', by Eva Gore-Booth, and 'Do M'Athair', by Caoimhín Ó Conghaile, with Professor Kiberd's own translation.

The text, set in Dolly Roman was printed on Somerset 200gsm white paper made specifically for this book at St. Cuthbert’s  Mill in Somerset.  The end papers are Fabriano 160gsm Cenere.  The binding is grey linen with a blue leather insert, with matching grey linen slipcase.  The text was printed, and the book bound, in Dublin by Antiquarian bookcrafts.

Roger Casement’s Butterfly, by Kathy Prendergast, is a pigment print with hand applied irredescence, printed on 70gsm Awagami Kozo paper. Two Flags, by Brian O’Doherty, is printed in colours from two intaglio plates. Rose, by Alice Maher, is a pigment print printed on 125gsm Awagami Inbe White. Easter Lily, by Michael Canning is a pigment print with carborundum printed onto 70gsm Awagami Kozo paper and then fixed to the book paper by chine collé.

A limited edition of two hundred copies of this book have been made with 150 for public sale, marked 1-150. The remaining 50 copies are for private distribution and are marked I to L in Roman numerals.

16 will be published in April 2016  in a limited edition,  each signed by the eight present-day contributors and by Professor Kiberd. Individual volumes will be on sale for a pre-publication price of €1,250 and a post-publication price of €1,750. Copies of the book and associated prints will be featured in the new GPO Witness History exhibition on Dublin's O'Connell Street.

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