New poetry: Old Friends; The Strongbox; Crystal; Coco Island

There’s a pleasingly spiky quality to the poems of Aifric Mac Aodha in Old Friends (Gallery, 64pp, €11.95/€18.50), as translated by David Wheatley; something to do with the veracity of the spoken, seen and subsequently dissected rubbing alongside a fresh, sardonic tone. Mac Aodha’s delivery has a little in common with... read full story

"the woman vet on the television/who puts her interviewer off his stride/with her dry, honest voice"