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What they say:
about EATING THISTLES
“...Eating Thistles is a stone in history’s shoe....there is a feeling
of eavesdropping on important, world-changing conversations...Moffatt
[asks] questions that have no aswer, but insists that we keep
looking....her tone is often mournful and mysterious, as if the full
implications of historical events are still rippling, far off into the
future.
Helen Allison, NORTHWORDS NOW about BEATHA ÙR, winner of the Federation of Scottish Writers Vernal Equinox Competition, Gaelic section, 2019
“...a crystalline image of the poet...scrutinising the comings and
goings of the neighbours and their idiosyncracies. It was this
keen eye that affected me most...this poem with left me with questions
in my mind. That’s the power of excellent poetry.”
Marcas Mac an Tuairneir about AN SEUDAR ’S AN GIUTHAS, winner of the Duais
Bàrdachd MhicDhòmhnaill Shlèite 2016
“...the
feel and subject of An Seudar ’s an Giuthas (‘The Cedar and the Pine’)
impressed us all for its originality and freshness. It has an appealing
symmetry and a unity in its contrast...”
“...bha
tarraing air leth ùr ann an An Seudar ’s an Giuthas a ghlac ar
mac-meanmna. Tha an dà chuid aonachd is ioma-sgaradh san dàn seo...”
Mark Wringe,
speaking for judging panel for the MacDonald of Sleat Poetry
Prize 2016
about CLANN NA COILLE, winner of the Wigtown Poetry
Competition Scottish Gaelic Section 2016
“...a
strange, other-worldly parable...it inspires one to question and to
imagine, and it continues to haunt the reader...”
Catriona Lexy
Campbell, Judge for Wigtown Poetry Prize Scottish Gaelic Section 2016
about MILKWEED DOWN, runner up in the Words on the
Waves Awards 2016
“There
is a simple beauty in this mournful poem. It is carefully crafted and
pleasingly musical.”
Jane Clarke, Poetry Judge in the Words on the Waves Award 2916
about LILIDH SA’ MHACHAIR,
winner of the Wigtown Poetry Prize Scottish Gaelic Category 2015
"…a
poem that is carefully crafted and emotionally complex. What
made
it stand out was its weaving of different textures, its delicately
handled imagery and - especially - its psychological heft."
"…a’
seasamh a-mach airson mar a tha e a’ fighe ri chèile innich
eadar-dhealaichte, ìomhaigheachd air a làimhseachadh gu faiceallach,
agus – gu h-àraidh
– airson a chuideam saidgh-eòlach.”
Peter
Mackay, Judge for the
Wigtown Poetry Prize Scottish Gaelic Category 2015
about ECLOGUE, winner of the
Words on the Waves Award 2015
"I
was…captivated by the rhythm of this poem, its soundscape, and the
musicality of the language…I loved its clarity, the repetitions that
became
imbued with further meaning, and instantly felt the frisson that told
me this
was the winner.”
Afric
McGlinchey, judge for the Words on the Waves
Poetry Award 2015
about ÀIRC,
Highly Commended in the Wigtown Poetry Prize Scottish Gaelic
Category 2014
"...a dark and challenging
image of the lasting, destructive effects of mental illness..."
"...a well-crafted poem whose
skillfulness is in itself a comfort...
"Sgialachd chianail, churanta ga
cur an cèill ann am
bàrdachd iùlmhor
ealanta..."
Anne
Lorne Gillies, Judge for the Wigtown Poetry Prize Gaelic
Category
2014
about THE MOVING ISLAND, winner of the
Baker Prize 2012
"‘The Moving Island’ is a deft
and fascinating weaving of narratives, and of voices. It recalls the
work of George Mackay Brown in how it opens itself to the myth and
reality of island living and how easily a sense of sanctuary can turn
into a sense of exile."
Kevin
MacNeil and Chris Powici, Judges for the Baker Prize 2012
"...an extraordinarily
beautiful poem..."
Roger
Hutchinson, WEST HIGHLAND FREE PRESS
about ALONG THE COAST (published in
Crannog 18):
“...Deborah Moffat’s haunting,
sad but excellently-crafted ‘Along the Coast’ marks her as a promising
and unafraid new poet. She has a collection due from Lapwing Press:
'All along the coast the young men lie in lonely rooms Listening for
the welcoming sighs of women lying alone . . .' ”
Kiosque,
THE WESTERN WRITER'S CENTRE
about THE SCHOOL TEACHER’S WIFE
(published in Oasis 110):
“...the beautifully sombre
three sections from 'The School Teacher’s Wife'...which feels like a
myth, something grown over time in a landscape rather than something
written by an individual--disturbing, erotic and loaded with mute
violence...a physically affective lyric.”
Andrew Jordan, 10th
MUSE
about FAR FROM HOME:
"...certainly a talented
writer..."
"The voice here is confident
even in experiment, and manages to avoid sentimentality and typicality
altogether."
"...poems which express
emotional complexities..."
Dr
J D Ballam, New British Poetry, SUITE 101
“...poems with a light
touch...”
poems “About family and
personal relationships embedded in countryside descriptions”
“She deserves to become
better known.”
Sally Evans, POETRY SCOTLAND - more here
“An interesting delicacy and
mystique...”
a “strange pull and
counter-pull of attraction to the past and the running away from it.”
Eric
Ratcliffe, NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL - more here
Moffatt “...explores and
searches for the pastoral on the fringes of the urban, whether in
Mexico, bonny Scotland or Ireland, but there are poems on other themes
too.”
BOOKS IRELAND
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