PATCHWORK

First edition, first printing. Signed by the author and the artist. Inscribed by the publisher. Publisher's original quarter light blue-grey cloth and grey paper covered boards, with titles in black and white on a white paper label to the upper board and in black to the spine. Illustrated with 7 line drawings in black and white by Jim Allen. A fine copy, the binding square and firm, bright and fresh. The contents are clean throughout, and without previous owners' inscriptions or stamps.

Issued in an edition of 500 copies from which this is one, but is not numbered. Signed by the author and illustrator in blue and green ink, respectively, on the colophon. Inscribed by the publisher in pencil on the title page "For Paul and Ulla / anticipating much fun / in Loughcrew very soon / - / love Peter. / 12/3/1[9]82". Described by Seamus Heaney as 'A keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders', Michael Longley CBE (1939 - 2025) was a widely celebrated Northern Irish poet whose prolific writing career began in 1965 with 'Ten Poems' (Belfast: Festival Publications), and lasted through to 2024, with the publications of 'Birds & Flowers' (Rochdale, UK: Fine Press Poetry) and 'Ash Keys: New Selected Poems' (London: Jonathan Cape). Longley won the Whitbread Poetry Prize for 'Gorse Fires' in 1991, and the T. S. Eliot Prize for 'The Weather in Japan' in 2000. He was the 2001 recipient of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours (Poetry Archive, 2025). First published on 28 November 1981 in an edition of 500 copies, this volume collects six poems reflecting on nature, memory, and sexuality.