On the Town: The poems of Kevin Kiely "have a very strong individuality", said Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, who launched his collection, Breakfast with Sylvia, in Dublin this week.
He used poetry "to interrogate the world of art", she said. There is "clarity and an extraordinary energy in his poetry . . . There are storms and there are mountains in the poems. There are skyscrapers also . . . The poems are about things that are real, that are seen with an eye that at times seems obsessed".
The gathering, at Poetry Ireland's headquarters at St Stephen's Green, in Dublin this week, included Kiely's friends and a number of fellow poets, such as Mary Rose Callan, a teacher for more than 30 years, whose second collection, Footfalls of Snow, was published by Cork-based company Bradshaw Books last week.
Artist Michael Kane and his wife, Shelley McNamara, were at the party, as was opera singer Judith Mok, who will be taking part in Temple Bar's free outdoor festival, Diversions, this summer. Mok explained that she will be singing classical Persian music at the festival, as part of her exploration of how the Middle East has influenced Irish culture.
Others who gathered to hear Kiely read included Susan van der Kamp, literary agent Jonathan Williams and the publisher of the collection, Pat Ramsey.
"He's a very good love poet," concluded Ramsey.
Breakfast with Sylvia, by Kevin Kiely, is published by Lagan Press Poetry