MARTIN MC CARTHY POET
Martin Mc Carthy is a contributing editor to the American poetry website, The HyperTexts. He lives in Cork City, Ireland, where he studied English at UCC and was awarded the H. Dip. in Education. His poems and reviews have appeared in numerous print and online publications. He has published three poetry books: Lockdown Diary (2020), Lockdown (2021) and The Perfect Voice (2023). His fourth collection – a long sequence of love poems, titled The Book of Desire – is awaiting publication, and he has begun work on a fifth collection, titled Songs from a World Gone Wrong.
He has a personal website at mccarthypoet.com and a Substack website at https://martinmccarthy.substack.com/
Publications
Martin Mc Carthy has published three poetry collections: Lockdown Diary (2020), Lockdown (2021) and The Perfect Voice (2023).
His most recent poems appeared in the following publications: Poems from My 5k, Drawn to the Light, Seventh Quarry Poetry, Poetry Salzburg, The Lyric, The Road Not Taken, The Orchards Poetry Journal, The Madrigal, WestWard Quarterly, Better Than Starbucks, Blue Unicorn, Lighten Up Online, The Chained Muse, London & Newcastle, The Society of Classical Poets, Taj Mahal Review, The Cathal Buí Anthology of Poetry, Southword, Form in Formless Times, New Lyre, The New Stylus and The HyperTexts.
He was shortlisted for the Red Line Poetry Prize, and is a nominee for the 2024 Pushcart Prize. At present he is working on a new poetry collection, titled Songs from a World Gone Wrong.
Martin Mc Carthy’s poems have featured prominently in The New Stylus poetry journal in recent times, and the following three publications attracted great interest:
Egypt & Other Poetry
A Christmas Card for Mum and Other Poetry
Someday and Other Love Poems
Recordings
Poems
Songs
A selection of his songs can be heard on a 14 track CD titled Night Falls & Other Love Songs. Three of these songs are currently featured on his Substack site, along with the lyrics and comments. To listen, simply choose and click:
Gasp
Forever
Entering the River
Song of the Wind
Gallery
Recently, The Perfect Voice, an epic-length tribute poem to Bob Dylan, written by Martin Mc Carthy, was placed on permanent display as part of the Bob Dylan Archive at the Bob Dylan Center, Tusla, Oklahoma, thanks to its director, Steve Jenkins, who said he was ‘honoured’ to include it.
Signed copies of this poem, in chapbook form, (32 pages) can be purchased here.
The words on his headstone are taken from his poem Under Ben Bulben:
Cast a cold eye
On life, on death,
Horseman pass by!
– W. B. Yeats
MARTIN MC CARTHY POET 