Accepting The Call, by Tim Dywer, published by Templar Poetry, will be introduced to an Irish audience by fellow poet Susan Millar Dumars after winning the 2024 Straid Collection Award in London.
A number of Dwyer’s poems in his latest collection include Galway settings and themes, including the effects of migration, and the tragedy of the mother and baby institution in Tuam. His poetry is regularly published in Irish, British and international journals and anthologies, including Acumen, Crannóg, Cyphers, Orbis, Poetry Ireland Review, Ragaire, Skylight 47 and others.
Dywer, now based in County Down, retired from a career as a clinical psychologist in New York State prisons in 2019. He was raised in New York by his mother from Gort, and father from between Loughrea and Portumna, and retains many family connections in East Galway and the city.
Accepting The Call traces reverse Irish diaspora migration and adjustment from 1960s Brooklyn to 21st Century Bangor, Co Down. There is a fluidity of times and places, between the living and the dead, health and illness, personal and family loss – poignantly related to Tuam. It explores nature in urban landscapes, poets and music, recurring images and metaphors, resilience, humour and unexpected renewals. Living with cancer for more than a decade has informed his work.
A previous collection, Smithy Of Our Longings (Lapwing, 2015 ) was launched at Over The Edge by Susan Millar Dumars and the late Kevin Higgins in 2015. Dwyer is a member of ‘Second Sunday Poets’ which includes Galway poets Bernie Crawford, Sighle Meehan and Bill Richardson.
