Washing Up

Since the warm reception of his last volume, Against the Clock, Derek Mahon has continued to produce remarkable work in a variety of modes. These range from convivial celebrations like ‘The Old Place’ and ‘Alone in the Dark’ to the radical politics of ‘A Line of Moore’ and ‘Word to the Wise’, besides a short series — ‘Quarantine’, ‘A Fox in Grafton St.’ — prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic. His many admirers will be pleased to find the well-known verve and stylistic vigour in this new collection, published within weeks of his untimely death in October.