Book Launch: Lull in the Rain by Eriko Tsugawa-Madden

Book Launch:

Lull in the Rain by Eriko Tsugawa-Madden

(Mitsui Publishing, Japan)

Eriko Tsugawa-Madden’s poems manage the deft feat of being microscopic and panoramic; equally at ease when honing in to transform the petals of one flower into a swirling cosmos or zooming out onto wider horizons to confront, with richly humane anger, the horror of historical atrocities. These poems often genuflect to nature, yet are not blind to casual cruelties inherent within the natural world. Her tone is deliberately underplayed, but conjures, with vivid clarity and precision, miniature still lives portraits, shot through with insight and compassion. “Page Turner” – where she encounters the shape of her mother’s hands recurring now within her own fingers – is truly masterful. Lull in the Rain is a pleasure to read – an interlude that readers won’t easily forget.

– Dermot Bolger, Poet, Writer, Playwright

‘Our daily lives are rich in mystery, yet we tend not to notice. But now, you’ve had the miraculous good fortune to discover Lull in the Rain. Go with Eriko into the garden, then down the street. Your daily life is about to become more mysterious’

‘Her poems are unassertive, humble, and free of showiness. And all of them are really interesting. The English versions are exceptionally good, and I marvelled at the certainty of the poet’s work.’

Arthur Binard – Oguma Award Judge – American Poet (Resident in Japan)

Eriko Tsugawa-Madden was born in Kushiro City, Japan and is now a resident of Dublin. Eriko won the 55th Oguma Poetry Award for this collection Lull in the Rain, as a result of which, this book was re-published in this new format in Spring of 2024 (Mitsui Publishing, Japan). Her novella Oni, won the 56th Hokkaido Shimbun Literary Award. (Currently in translation). She is the author of another poetry collection, Bride of the Wind (Kinseido Japan), an essay collection The Sick Tree 2020 (Design Egg, Japan) and she has been included in the following poetry anthologies, Landing Places 2010, Writing Home 2019 and Local Wonders 2021 (all by Dedalus Press) and Poems for when you can’t find the words 2022 (Irish Hospice Foundation, Gill Books). A new essay collection Letters from Dublin will be published in 2025 (Mitsui Publishing).

Access our building

The Irish Writers Centre is currently housed in 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1. This is a Georgian building which unfortunately does not have a lift. There are 5 steps into the entrance level. The majority of the event’s activities will take place in the Strong room which is on the second floor and requires climbing 55 steps in total. Please do inform us of any accessibility requirements you might have before the event so we can make any necessary arrangements. info@irishwriterscentre.ie.