As the poetry community mourns the premature death of Irish poet Matthew Sweeney, it seems only right to highlight issue 40 of The Dark Horse which features four new poems by Sweeney, sent to the editors in the months prior to his death. These poems are incredibly powerful and complex as Sweeney responds to his illness. Reading them reminds us of Sweeney’s poetic gift and they are a wonderful commemoration of his talent. 

The Moth, founded in 2010, comes out of County Cavan, Ireland, and has always been a beautiful thing to behold on our magazine shelves. Published quarterly, for the last few years all the issues have featured a painted portrait on the cover. Featuring poetry, short fiction, artwork and two interviews each issue, the magazine reflects the combined interests of its two founders, poet and novelist Rebecca O’Connor and artist Will Govan. It manages to have gravitas and coolness simultaneously. The current issue (35, Winter 2018) includes an interview with Jo Shapcott who states that “Poets can just surprise you, you know. They might have lived wide-ranging or extreme lives or just stayed in their rooms - whichever way, amazing poems can and do result…” This is good news because Erik Kennedy’s poem on page 7, 'Another Beautiful Day Indoors' just makes us want to curl up in the library with this magazine.