AWARD-winning Clonakilty poet James Harpur’s latest book The Gospel of Gargoyle has been described by the Australian scholar Penelope Buckley as ‘a mighty dialogue of self and soul, a drama, deeply original – and the ending is a little electric shock’.
The poems relate how an Irish poet residing in Paris has a series of dreams in which he flies to the rooftop of Notre Dame and encounters a gargoyle. But not any old gargoyle - this one can speak, and he claims to be a lost spirit trapped inside a stone shell, an outcast, a marginalised alien seeking salvation. Gargoyle and Poet become unlikely companions, bound by a pact: in return for the Poet’s visits and conversations on the great questions of life, Gargoyle promises to reveal the answer to the question obsessing Poet - who or what caused the great fire of Notre-Dame in 2019.
James says the inspiration for Gargoyle ‘came to me like a feather on the wind during Covid. I woke up from a dream one morning with the words, “Poets do not come here anymore” on my lips. I didn’t know what it meant, but it felt like a thread I had to follow.’
James says that some nights later he had a ‘flying’ dream in which he landed on the rooftop of Notre-Dame. In the dream he saw a gargoyle there, and it turned to him and said, ‘Poets do not come here anymore!’
‘Over weeks, perhaps months, I had a succession of dreams, supplemented by meditations or what Jung calls the “active imagination” in which the story of Poet and Gargoyle unfolded. Eventually I wrote it down and fashioned it into a book. I was thrilled to find the most wonderful publisher in Eblana Press and Paul Ó Colmáin, whose brilliant artwork has added immeasurably to the
words.’
The UK poet Alyson Hallett has said about the book: ‘I galloped through it as if pulled by a silver thread. I loved the journey, the conversations, Gargoyle and his grumpiness and the storms over Paris. I was caught between having my breath taken away and wanting to gallop on with the story. The ending is sublime.’
James has won various awards for his poetry in the past including the UK National Poetry Competition, the Michael Hartnett Prize, the Vincent Buckley Prize, and a Patrick and Catherine Kavanagh Fellowship. James was Oscar Wilde Writer Fellow at Trinity Dublin in 2023 and is a member of Aosdána, Irish Academy of the Arts. James’ debut novel The Pathless Country was the winner of the JG Farrell Award and was shortlisted for the John McGahern Prize.
The Gospel of Gargoyle is accompanied by brilliant artwork by the acclaimed artist Paul Ó Colmáin. The publication a bespoke, stitched, numbered and limited edition, signed by both James and Paul, author and artist. The work is published by Eblana Press, a small, personalised publishing house located in the heart of West Cork. Eblana press believes that ‘the arts can inspire audiences, readers and communities through song, art and the written word’.
The Gospel of Gargoyle is available exclusively from Kerr’s Bookshop and directly from Eblana at eblanapress.com.
The book’s official launch takes place on Saturday March 29th at 5pm at the Working Artist Studios in Ballydehob, while there will be a performance based on the book at the Clonakilty Arts Festival in O’Donovan’s Hotel on March 30th at 3pm.
