Ciaran Carson has played a major role in the internationalization of contemporary Irish poetry from the late 1960s, through the 'Troubles' of the '70s, '80s and '90s, to the present time. Taken together, these essays chart the development of his diverse and prolific career, scrutinizing his experiments in a new urban poetics, including his obsessive concern with maps and labyrinths; they examine his interest in narrative, and explore the continuities between his poetry and his prose; and they consider his relation to various poetic traditions - English Romantic, European Symbolist, Modernist and Postmodernist, Irish language, and contemporary American. This collection of thirteen essays, penned by an array of leading scholars in the field, is the first full-length critical study of the Belfast poet and prose writer, and makes a timely appearance in this, the writer's sixtieth year. Additionally, the book includes an interview given by Carson to the editor.