Description: Nonfiction. Music. In a voice that "delivers both respect and irreverence with convincing authority," Terence Winch gives us "a world--two worlds in fact--his parents' New York immigrant Irish life in the '30's,'40's, and '50's, and the bubbling, eventful confusion of growing up asan artist on the East Coast from the late '60's on. These worlds are joined at the heart by music. And we are as close (as they say in the old Irish poem) to 'the music of what happens' as we are likely to get"--Charles Fanning. A noted poet, musician and fiction-writer, Winch establishes a witty and yet austere presence in prose that is clean, clear, and utterly engrossing.
Brief description: Terence Winch has published four books of poems, BOY DRINKERS (Hanging Loose, 2007), THE DRIFT OF THINGS (The Figures, 2001), IRISH MUSICIANS/AMERICAN FRIENDS (Coffee House Press, 1986), which won an American Book Award, and The Great Indoors (Story Line Press, 1995), which won the Columbia Book Award. THAT SPECIAL PLACE: NEW WORLD IRISH STORIES (Hanging Loose, 2004) is a collection of nonfiction pieces on his experiences playing traditional Irish music. He has also published a book of short stories called Contenders (Story Line, 1989) and numerous chapbooks. His work has appeared in many anthologies, including The Oxford Book of American Poetry (2006), Poetry 180 (2003), Best American Poetry (1997, 2003, 2007), and in such publications as The Paris Review, American Poetry Review, New American Writing, The World, The New Republic, Shiny, Verse, et al. He was the subject of a profile on NPR's All Things Considered, and has been featured many times on Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac radio program. He has received an NEA Fellowship in poetry, as well as grants from the DC Commission on the Arts, the Maryland State Arts Commission, and the Fund for Poetry. The son of Irish immigrants to New York, Winch has also played Irish music all his life, recording three albums with his group Celtic Thunder. The band's second recording, featuring his popular song When New York Was Irish, won the INDIE for Best Celtic Album. See www.terencewinch.com
Review Quotes: "Terence Winch is an Irish-American version of Julio Cortazar. Both use prose to poetic ends, both leave their readers gasping for breath at the moment of denouement."