Maurice Whelan: 5 books

In ‘Mount Cargill’, a poem in Maurice Whelan’s book Excalibur’s Return, he described running up Mount Cargill in New Zealand with Richard O’Neill-Dean, to whom that volume was dedicated. Richard responded to Maurice’s latest collection, Spirit Eyes, with a poem of his own, after discussing...

“If stillness can be tasted, precious memories will return, such as poetry once learned by heart, which in Maurice Whelan’s case told of King Arthur receiving his sword Excalibur from the maiden in the lake. If silence can be heard, a poetry in life will breathe, as in this poet’s observation...

The Lilac Bow is the first book of poetry by the author of the collections Excalibur’s Return, A Season and a Time and, most recently, Spirit Eyes. Maurice Whelan is also the author of the acclaimed novel Boat People.

A Season and a Time has poems that are snapshots and poems that read like short stories. They scan Ireland's green fields and Australia's ochre earth. Inspiration comes from a snowdrop, a telephone call, a broken musical instrument, a night spent in sub-zero temperatures in the Snowy Mountains. The subject...

First published in 1982. Between 1955 and 1980 the number of pupils in special needs schools in Britain increased tenfold. Between 1970 and 1977 the number of units for ‘difficult’ pupils also increased tenfold and went on increasing. Some observers saw this as a welcome advance in special education,...