Orla Fay takes us on an odyssey from her own beloved Meath of the rich pastures, its history and heritage, to a world far beyond, be it Ancient Greece, or modern Australia, there is even a ghostly encounter with John Keats! The human condition, in all its manifestations, is a leitmotif throughout, and we are moved and delighted by “her infinite variety”.

              Honor Duff 

Orla Fay’s Word Skin delights in “the enchantment of words” like the names of local fields and rivers but also in the many references to myth and legend, art and social media. But always the stress is on human vulnerability ­– “I remember the day she placed/the sword in my side” and the localising of the mythic – “I thought of Prometheus/and then my father”. One poem asks “If your house was burning/what would you take with you?” This collection is on my list.

              Michael Farry

The landscape of Word Skin embraces Dublin, London, Paris, Iberia and Australia but its lodestar is the poet’s beloved Meath, its rivers, fields, coast and proud traditions. Past and present, myth and reality, art and literature synthesize to create a vibrant world ablaze with colour and the light of sun, moon and stars.

              Michael Durack

Orla Fay’s debut collection Word Skin is wide-ranging in scope. Fay’s eclectic interests are evidenced by poems inspired by her close observation of nature, ekphrastic poems exploring familiar works of visual art, and the modern world of technology and social media. Using fresh imagery, and writing in both contemporary and traditional poetic forms, Word Skin demonstrates Fay’s skill as a new and exciting poet.

              Breda Wall Ryan 

The source and inspiration of Orla Fay’s poetry is her native County Meath. In fluent lines she names the small rivers which bounded her childhood, the fields that are now gone. Her ‘Dunshaughlin’ is a powerful contemporary Dindshenchas poem. Recalling her student days she writes: “I wondered what would become of me.” Years later we have Word Skin, her debut full-length collection, wide-ranging in its material and a compelling read.

              Susan Connolly