Through discussion of the ways in which major Northern Irish poets (such as John Hewitt, Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, Louis MacNeice and Derek Mahon) have been influenced by America, this study shows how Northern Irish poetry overspills national borders, complicating and enriching itself through cross-cultural interaction and hybridity.
"It is a book probably best suited to an American audience as a well-researched and extremely readable introduction to Northern Irish poetry that uses connections to America-experiential, imaginative, geographic, and literary-as starting points for its commentary. ... Kennedy-Andrews's book is indeed wide-ranging in scope and demonstrates the author's obvious scholarly enthusiasm for the Northern Irish poetry addressed." (Gail McConnell, breac.nd.edu, February, 2017)
"In his fascinating recent study Northern Irish Poetry: The American Connection, Elmer Kennedy-Andrews contends that there are 'webs of connection' ... that tie together Northern Irish poets with one another and with their American antecedents, whether or not they are aware of these entanglements. ... makes a convincing case for the importance of American influence in contemporary Northern Irish poetry. Additionally, it paves the way for future criticism with a similarly flexible and inquisitive attitude." (Tara Stubbs, Irish Studies Review, May, 2016)
"In his fascinating recent study Northern Irish Poetry: The American Connection, Elmer Kennedy-Andrews contends that there are 'webs of connection' ... that tie together Northern Irish poets with one another and with their American antecedents, whether or not they are aware of these entanglements. ... makes a convincing case for the importance of American influence in contemporary Northern Irish poetry. Additionally, it paves the way for future criticism with a similarly flexible and inquisitive attitude." (Tara Stubbs, Irish Studies Review, May, 2016)