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bandit country

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bandit country

By: James Conor Patterson
Narrated by: James Conor Patterson
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About this listen

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 T.S. ELIOT PRIZE

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 JOHN POLLARD FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL POETRY PRIZE

bandit country, the much-anticipated debut collection from James Conor Patterson, is a rollicking, hyper-literate and at times deeply troubling account of a young man’s navigation of the semi-lawless borderlands between the north of Ireland and the Republic – the ‘bandit country’ of the Troubles – and the criss-crossed sea border to England and beyond. Patterson shows us how the militarised boundary line of old has morphed into an invisible and semi-wild frontier, where the ghosts of a thirty-year war continue to haunt the ‘ceasefire generation’.

Patterson writes in a hybrid dialect of Newry street and Scots and Irish-inflected English – and in a virtuosic variety of forms: these poems crackle with vernacular wit and the rhythms of everyday speech, absorbing the influence of the poet’s Belfast mentor, Ciaran Carson, and the radical poetics of Tom Leonard. Already a rising star and Eric Gregory award-winner, James Conor Patterson is an extraordinary talent at the forefront of a new wave of poets exploring the linguistic inheritance of region and community.

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Very good and poignant story about life during the troubles. Well narrated with feeling I loved this short book

A great story

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I've been meaning to rate this for ages. This collection is sublime. An essential reminder of the issues that still haunt the ROI/Northern Irish border but also an integral
part of the poets identify and relationship with his home country. The Audiobook is the only way to experience this, delivered by the poet himself. The Drowning and London Mixtapes are standouts. Highly recommend for anyone interested in Ireland or Irish history.

Excellent poems, delivered with perfect narration

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