Publisher's Synopsis
Corcoran is a rare gift to modern poetry. In an age of sterile nihilism, she offers us a dazzling display of rich fulsome images that assault the senses even as they cluster in familiar, resonant hollows. 'Tin pots holed by moonlight polkas' refract the unexpected, a 'hum-coloured box' exposes a guilt wracked conscience, red gloves 'flung like bloody rags/in a sterile room/or a heart' expose our indulgences. Her trenchant and often exquisitely poignant observations create spiritual landscapes that speak in soft tones of nuanced understanding giving the reader ample room to meld in meditative pause. In elegant prosody she canvases the foibles of modern society with a wry, wizened sensitivity that harkens back to an age where the composition of language was at the very core of the poet's craft. 'Somewhere Like Here' is a rich tableaux for the senses and a tonic for the thoughtful reader. Corcoran's fans are legion. This long-awaited landmark volume heralds the formal debut of one of the most significant writers of our time. Constance Stadler, editor and author of "Sublunary Curse," "Paper Cuts," "Tinted Steam" et. al. Somewhere Like Here is one powerful diamond of a poetry collection. A master of precise and living/breathing imagery, Corcoran's poems fixate, tantalize, and pierce their readers with genuine emotion. This book has been long awaited. Somewhere Like Here is a gem that will glisten sweetly from your bookshelf, an irresistible collection, one that you will return to again and again. April Michelle Bratten, co-editor Up the Staircase Quarterly. Corcoran's writing is the poetic equivalent of a Joseph Cornell box. In a small space she takes an assemblage of familiar found objects and with deft hand sculpts a certain magic predicated on juxtapositional contrasts of light and darkness. The resultant presentation is always a well-limned, heart-hewn original; an enlightened stare deep into the pouring shade of common things becoming profound. With Corcoran the dream and reality bleed the same flaming Luscher bruise and mint julep balm to heal the burn. It is the wistful whimsy and the unflinching eye catching every winsome detail that makes Corcoran's unattenuated work bewitch and beguile between the lines. It is the light of her rich discovery selflessly shared in perfected word that ensures her immeasurable value and longevity in the poetic realm. - William Crawford, Author of Fire in the Marrow 'Somewhere Like Here'... Corcoran starts off 'here' and transforms it into 'somewhere', a place delicate and original; a new idea. I have long been a fan of her poetry, not least because of her dazzling and awe-provoking imagery. She sees the world from her own place and interprets it through considerable poetic gifts which seldom fail to fill me with admiration and envy. Despite this she remains humble in the face of her own considerable talent, which only makes her work all the more enchanting. It is most definitely time that Corcoran was available in print and I rejoice in the realization of it. Gillian Prew, Author of 'In the Broken Things', 'Disconnections' and 'The Idea of Wings'. Corcoran writes from the heart, but never allows emotion to cloud the words. Her poetry dances on the page in some of the most spectacular imagery I've ever read; it seems she has a close almost pagan affinity to nature that shines with brilliance in her work. This collection is beautiful, insightful, fiery and feisty whilst still shimmering with a gentle spirit and understanding of human nature with all its imperfect beauty. - Maria Gornell is published in Liverpool 800 anthology, Clinicality press; Clinical, Brutal... An Anthology of Writing with Guts, erbacce press anthology; Blood at the Chelsea. Alan Morrison's emergency verse; poetry in defence of the welfare state anthology and Soul feathers an anthology in support of Macmillan cancer.
