Fishing for Amber

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

In this boldly conceived A to Z of stories, the author (a Belfast-based poet) returns again and again to images from visual art. Carson uses his own wedding on the shores of Lough Neagh as a tentative framing device for the tales. To this rich recipe he adds a poet's interest in transformation. Another narrative strand features dark, disturbing Irish folk tales, in which characters are abducted and menaced, and rewarded for their ability to tell stories. Carson has an interest in all things Dutch - 17th-century Dutch painting, the painters, their life and times, and the pictures themselves. He is also fascinated by words, exploring synonyms and etymologies. The result is a rich, complex, allusive blend of cultures and stories, an exploration of the imagination and the power of art. Marina Warner adds: Belfast poet Ciaran Carson has returned to Celtic lore and braided together spooky, comic wonder tales with sailors' yarns, personal memoir and a quixotic bestiary in his enthralling Fishing for Amber. (Kirkus UK)