Gabriel Rosenstock – författare

Light-hearted collection of funny and easy-to-read stories in Irish which will be enjoyed by children and all the family.

Collected poems of Gabriel Rosenstock from various collections featuring English translations of the original Irish poems by the poet and by the poet Paddy Bushe.

This travel book follows the author and his wife on their travels through Dubai, India, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Chile and the US, charting both a physical and spiritual journey. Rosenstock regales us with hilarious tales of persistent Indian sales men, suicidal mules in the Himalayas and the 39 million gods resident in Mumbai. He extols the healing properties of the urine of different animals (!), he ponders whether his biro might be mightier than the khanjar (a type of dagger), and wonders if a haughty pig in the streets of Mumbai might believe that she is in fact a sacred cow!

As well as being witty, the book is philosophical and reflective at times. The author''s strong pacifist philosophy is constantly referred to, a philosophy that is strengthened by his visit to Hiroshima. Rosenstock also strives to point out to his readers the similarities between our culture and those he encounters, encouraging us to see kinship where we would usually only see differences. Rosenstock is a practitioner of Japanese Haiku poetry, and the book includes many of these three-line poems inspired by his travels, as well as several thoughts for the day.

''Years ago I used to narrate Gerrit van Gelderen''s programme, To the Waters and the Wild. People used to envy me, thinking I had been on location in exotic spots. I hadn''t, in fact. But finally I got to see the world. My wife, Eithne, loved Gangotri in the Himalayas; the highlight for me was Kerala in Southern India. The people, the landscape, the culture…''

- Gabriel Rosenstock

Peppered with references to the literature and history of the countries in question, Ólann mo Mhiúil as an nGainséis is far more than a traditional travel book. It will give its readers plenty of food for thought, educating and entertaining them.

Cérbh é Birbal? Amadán cliste ba ea é agus cé gur mhair sé fadó tá siad fós ag caint air - ón Daingean go Darjeeling. Scéilíní gleoite faoi ainmhithe, faoi éin agus faoi dhaoine. Scéilíní a ghealfaidh do chroí agus iad maisithe go haoibhinn ag Bob Ó Cathail.

Who was Birbal? He was a clever fool, according to some, and although he lived a long long time ago, they’re still talking about him, from Dingle to Darjeeling! Rosenstock previously delighted readers of Irish with retellings of tales concerning the holy fool Nasrudin. In this new book we encounter the loveable antics and sayings of the eponymous Birbal, one of the nine advisors of the 16th century Mughal emperor Akbar. A wonderful collection of beautiful traditional stories and proverbs from Indian folklore. Adapted from such sources as the Hitopadesha, Panchatantra and Jataka, the stories in this book are about all of life, with stories about animals, about birds and about people. Stories to lift the spirit, delightfully illustrated by Bob Ó Cathail.

Gabriel Rosenstock is one of the finest and most prolific poets of our time and has been a notable force in Irish writing since he first put pen to paper. He is one of the INNTI generation of poets who revolutionized the world of poetry in Irish, and he counts among his peers Michael Davitt, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Liam Ó Muirthile. The 54 poems in this book provide an overview of Rosenstock''s work over the last 25 years, and the English translations by fellow poet Paddy Bushe make the poetry accessible to a whole new audience.

In the foreword by Robert Welch he describes Rosenstock''s poetry as world poetry. He writes; ‘Observation here, as Samuel Johnson said, has an ‘extensive view'' and ‘surveys mankind, from China to Peru''''. With a list of poem titles that includes

An Búda / The Buddha, Zenmhachnamh le haill / Zen meditation at a cliff, Mustanbih / Mustanbih, Selbstporträt / Self-portrait and Billie Holiday /Billie Holiday, Rosenstock''s world view is very evident. With an emphasis on themes of universal importance, this collection is testament to Rosenstock''s status as one of the most insightful poets of our time.