Goddess on the Mervue Bus

by Rita Ann Higgins

For the past decade Higgins' strong, clear poetic voice has challenged and revitalized literary norms. With this, her first publication originally issued in 1986, Higgins was instantly recognized as a powerful force for change. ""There are not many books of poems of which I can say that I remember the day, the month, the year when I read them...Goddess on the Mervue Bus was such a book...it lit a fire in my heart"" - Paul Durcan.

Genres: Poetry

55 pages, Paperback

Published December 31, 1993

Reviews

[Cat]

A really good short read. Although many of the poems had references I might have not understood, “Tommy’s Wife” stood out to me in such a spectacular way, reflecting perhaps a bitter life of a mother’s identity being stripped. Another poem I enjoyed the imagery in was “Work On”, with how a simple work break can be poetic. “Power Cut” was also poetic with the power cut of a house filled with a sense of childless and excitement. Mundane life and struggles being written so poetically was so good.

[Ted Nealon]

Some great poetry here - I went to college in Galway in the seventies and eighties and so many of the places are familiar to me but, more importantly, Rita Ann describes the people and their lives and tribulations which were also familiar, sometimes just in a couple of words, beauty describing reality.

Read it for sure, slowly and again

[Patricia]

Higgins is certainly facile with language. I'm afraid there were to many Irish contextual allusions for me to fully grasp the deeper meaning of her poems but I could easily feel the emotion and appreciate her skill with words.

[Liz]

I devoured this book in an afternoon because I couldn’t put it down. The characters and settings will be familiar to anyone who has experienced 20th century rural Irish life. The images are striking and immediate. This was my first time reading this poet. She is now a firm favourite of mine.