Playing the Octopus

Evocative poetry exploring Irish identity, nature, and the feminine experience.

In Mary O'Malley's eighth collection, Playing the Octopus, the spirit of Ireland's west coast sings. Earthen and dreamlike, bodily and mythical, a trout swallows light, a wolf howls, and a tree-shaped brightness dances. O'Malley intertwines the Irish west coast with the American east, Inis Mór with Coney Island, offering comfort and wonder.


Sylvia Plath, Lois Lane, and Antigone are among the unlikely heroines through which O'Malley tests motherhood and femininity. This collection is buoyed by the redemptive power and sustaining joy of music. It closes with O'Malley's translations of Seán Ó Ríordáin and Federico García Lorca.


This collection is for readers of contemporary poetry, Irish literature, and those who appreciate lyrical and evocative writing.