Errata

by Michael Donaghy

In his second collection, Errata , Michael Donaghy continues to explore the twin themes of love and the reproduced error. Particularly compelling is "O'Ryan's Belt," a sequence of poems dedicated to forgotten musicians that charts the spiritual geography of the oral tradition from rural Ireland
to the slums of Athens, New York, and Chicago. Written in meticulously wrought lyrics, Errata features several bizarre narratives detailing, for instance, the revenge of a Renaissance metalsmith, the disgrace of an eleventh-century Japanese courtesan, and the disappearance of a Victorian
Admiral.

64 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1993

About the author

Michael Donaghy (May 24, 1954 – September 16, 2004) was an award-winning New York poet and musician, who lived in London from 1985.

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Reviews

[Tim Bradford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd never thought of writing a review of this until, while on my way to watch Young Boys v Spurs in a Champions League qualifying match on TV, I saw a man on O'Connell Street in Dublin who looked just like the poet Michael Donaghy. Almost immediately my right knee began to hurt. It was still hurting today while I was browsing this site so I was reminded...

This book changed forever my understanding and love of poetry and because I had been lucky enough to hear Michael Donaghy read live, I can forever hear his voice as I read the poems. On first reading they seem funny and often tricksy but the lines stay with you until you revisit and begin to feel the depth of feeling and knowledge that Donaghy posessed. And you will want to read more.

[Russio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some grip, while others slip. I am afraid that this collection fails to make contact with me as well as Conjure did. The poems Liverpool and L are very strong and immediate but others are richly allusive, and when it comes to the classics, I am a pauper. I shall reread when older and more erudite and, no doubt, curse the younger Philistine that I currently am.