Refreshingly unconfessional, placed largely in a Europe between unspecified wars, this is a brave attempt to use poetry to describe the current epoch. Like a young John Ashbery, Hickey skirts from slogan to commonplace, from sound bite to cliché, always returning to the unpropitious conditions for authentic experience, be that hysterical, religious, or communal. - Prof. Graham Allen

In poetry, as in other forms of creative thinking one is always on the lookout for the original voice and occasionally one comes across one that is worth celebrating. Kenneth Hickey ploughs his own rich furrow with welcome assuredness. Here, in his first book, he presents us with work that has the feel of being around for a long time. - Gerry Murphy