Kathleen Kenny was brought up in a family where her father and her brother never spoke to each other. Hole is the story of a lifelong struggle to understand the unspoken secrets contained in the silences of her childhood, to measure the damage and the hurt of its 'strange normality'. Set against the changing landscape of the west end of Newcastle in the 1960s, Kathleen Kenny connects 'the accidental fall from childhood' to the violent demolition of a working-class community making way for the promise of a new Brasilia.
"This is an impressive collection. These are deeply-felt poems suffused with a poignant sense of loss. They relive important moments with an admirable freshness and deft control. They are tender and touching, and have a universal aspect as time passes on us all."
Brendan Cleary
"Kathleen Kenny's poems are well crafted, intellectually sharp and emotionally convincing. The title poem, Hole, is especially strong and convincing. One of the main themes is that of family, in all its intimate complexity, deepening as the years go by. She does justice to this deepening complexity in poems placed at different points in the book so that the reader gets a sense of a certain haunted and haunting quality in the work. The reticent tone of the writing intensifies this rare quality and demands that the poems be read again and again. I find it a pleasure to do this."
Brendan Kennelly
Kathleen Kenny is the daughter of an Irish mother and an Irish-Geordie father. Her previous poetry collections include Sex & Death (Diamond Twig), Goosetales and other Flights (Koo Press), Sandblasting the Cave (Flarestack) and Firesprung (Red Squirrel Press). She lives in Newcastle upon Tyne, where she works as a creative writing tutor for the Centre for Lifelong Learning.
