Poems from an Open Heart
Tom White’s new poetry collection, Open Heart Surgery, published with selfpublishbooks.ie is nothing if not varied. Put together following a hospital stay and dedicated to the staff in Galway University Hospital, this is a trip through a wonderful range of topics and thoughts. Tom says that without the hospital staff, the book itself wouldn’t exist, but don’t let the title fool you. Once you delve in, you’ll see an eclectic mix of poems with titles as enticing as “An Ode to a Minister”, “Humility” and “I’m Right, Your Wrong”. From water boarding to Charlie Ebdo, White’s poetry draws you in and not in a preachy way. It definitely will make you think.
There are other reasons to buy Open Heart Surgery, apart from the wonderful writing. Tom is donating part of the proceeds of the book to the Irish Heart and Stroke Charity – CROI.
Open Heart Surgery is Tom’s third collection of poetry self-published with us; his first, Only What There Is, published in 2013, was quickly followed by another in 2014 with the moving The Sense Behind the Silence. Tom’s work has been gaining note of late, with 3 of his poems being included in an upcoming anthology of Humanist poetry Filling the Void, edited by Jonathan M.S. Pearse and with a foreward by Andrew Copson.
If you would like a copy of Open Heart Surgery, donating to CROI along the way, you can contact tom directly tomwhitehai@gmail.com. If you happen to be in West of Ireland, you can also pick up a copy from Easons in Castlebar.
About the author
Tom White was born in Ballyshannon, Donegal, Ireland in 1949. He moved with his family to Moira, County Down ten years later. He was educated at the local grammar school in Lurgan, and then at Trinity College Dublin. His career included work in the Civil Service in Belfast, Australia and England, and also as a Trade Union official in Perth, Western Australia. In 2001, He returned to Ireland to live in rural Co Mayo, becoming involved in the “Pen and Ink” creative writing group in the Kiltimag-Knock area.
If you are thinking about self-publishing a poetry collection, you can contact us at selfpublishbooks.ie and we’ll be delighted to discuss getting your work into print.
