In Family of Origin Peter Nolan is deeply aware of the power of words. He believes that 'words will never free us' in Letters to my Family but through his writing Nolan does attempt to become free, with poetry he can 'Disarm shared history'. With complete honesty he explores his relationships with his family members, where in remembering he can 'Immerse in a child's glorious laughter'. This collection brings the reader on a quest to find peace and silence in the natural world. It is the 'immutable solace of silence' that saves the poet. Family of Origin is particularly interesting to anyone wanting to experience life through Irish American eyes. Nolan offers a commentary on the political and social climate of the US. He laments a general loss of kindness in a culture of advertisement. In his love poems he becomes confessional in the exploration of the battlegrounds that relationships sometimes offer. A List of Sorries is an especially worthy piece. Nolan laments the loss of a friend in And So You're Gone, and he turns to nature for comfort again. Here is a poet who is unafraid to question what he has learned, a poet who is willing to evaluate society, one who longs for a return to a simple life, one who is willing to 'Ask for joy in every moment'. Perhaps it is his deep Irish roots that ground him in optimism as demonstrated by the daffodils in Spring Yellow, 'Because their blooms/Turn towards the sun'.

Orla Fay, Poet and Editor Boyne Berries

Powerfully intimate, these poems reflect on matters at once deeply personal and universal: love and disappointment, joy and betrayal, the essentiality of kin and the silence of the divine. Peter Nolan's wide ranging meditations are a balm for our all-too interesting times. -Elizabeth Gaffney, author of When the World Was Young