Scott De Buitléir is releasing his second bilingual poetry collection which features text surrounding the country’s LGBTQ+ history written in both Irish (as Gaeilge) and English. Elysium // Párthas also explores love during lockdown, childhood memories, spirituality, and more, building on the poems in his debut publication, Fás / Growth.
De Buitléir, who was born in Clontarf and now resides in Cork, is adding to the literary canons of both LGBTQ+ Irish poetry and Irish-language poetry. Since the release of Fás / Growth, the poet has read his work at several literary events including the Cúirt Literary Festival in Galway and the Edinburgh Gaelic Festival. In that cross-Celtic sense, it is fitting that the new collection features a foreword from Scottish Gaelic writer, Marcas Mac an Tuairneir.
The Scottsman declares De Buitléir’s new collection as “filled with confident articulation of emotion, relationships, politics and appraisal of the world we live in.”
Elysium // Párthas features poetry that makes reference to key moments in Irish LGBTQ+ history, as well as those from places abroad. From the horrors of the AIDS crisis to the achievement of Marriage Equality, the collection blends the personal and the political, noting that much of the liberties that we enjoy today are “a people’s past laid down on a patchwork path”.
Speaking on the release of this new collection, Scott De Buitléir said:
“It has been wonderful to collect and translate these poems from their original language into either English or Irish, depending on which language was used first. They are deeply personal poems, but hopefully quite relatable also, especially as some deal with common themes of family, love, and loss.
“As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, also, it’s important to acknowledge what we’ve all been through, which is why two poems focus on the lockdown and our collective sacrifices made, and those we’ve lost to the virus. Overall, I hope the reader enjoys this new collection in both languages.”
Elysium // Párthas, published by MKB Publishing, is available in paperback and eBook formats from November 29. Visit scottdebuitleir.com for more information.
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